


Mahal's Blessing

by Lakritzwolf



Series: Sacred Duty, Bleeding Heart [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Family, Feels, Hurt/Comfort, mature content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-30
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-20 09:52:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3645873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lakritzwolf/pseuds/Lakritzwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story is an E-rated Extension to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3429680/chapters/7515866">Sacred Duty, Bleeding Heart</a>. Starts with Fili's and Katla's wedding night.<br/>Not all chapters involve sex, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wedding Night

**Author's Note:**

> The Wedding night, continuing with the fade to black in [Sacred Duty, Bleeding Heart, Chapter 35](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3429680/chapters/7688456)

Both Fili and Katla were still trying to catch up with events through another short boast of celebration, and even more so when Dís informed them that they would have the King’s chambers from now on. 

Fili could not deny a feeling of relief upon hearing those words. As little as he could understand his uncle’s change of mind, he was glad he wouldn’t have to lie in the same bed with Katla on their wedding night as he had done with Ysona. 

But all worries, insecurities and all confusion vanished when Fili finally closed the door behind him and he and Katla were alone at last. Carefully and respectfully they removed their crowns and put them onto a pillow on a low, carved table of stone. 

“My Queen,” Fili whispered as he closed his arms around Katla and pulled her close. “My lovely gemstone.”  
Katla closed her eyes and let him claim her lips in a kiss full of passion and hunger. She was gasping for breath when he released her, but so was he.  
“Will you devour me like a wild animal?” Katla asked him with a breathless chuckle.  
Fili buried his face into the crook of her neck and gently nipped at the skin. “No. Not this time.”

Katla watched Fili’s face under half-lidded eyes as she pushed the heavy fur-lined leather vest from his shoulders. Her fingers traced across his skin; across his cheeks, down the neck, and followed the neckline of his tunic. Fili closed his eyes and shuddered under her gentle touch. 

Both of them had to chuckle as Katla began to struggle with the buckle of Fili’s heavy studded belt. She helplessly dropped her hands and with a faint smile, Fili undid the buckle and dropped the belt beside the vest. With a sigh, Katla shoved the tunic form his shoulders.  
“You would think that someone would have thought of wedding garments that are less of a pest to deal with,” Fili muttered softly, his eyes still closed as Katla tugged his shirt out of the waistband of his trousers.  
“We are getting there,” Katla whispered and stepped closer, leaning her head against his shoulder as she slipped her hands under the shirt. 

Fili exhaled sharply through his nose as her hands wandered up his back. He could feel her through the fabric of his shirt, but he wanted more. Impatiently he stepped back, pulled the shirt over his head and threw it behind him. 

Katla drank in the sight of him, his well-formed muscles, the mysterious marks of dark blue ink in his skin, the faint white lines of scars, and the blond, curly hair covering his chest. She reached out and combed her fingertips through those springy curls. Fili drew in a sharp breath and drew her close again, pressing her cheek against his chest. Katla closed her eyes, rested her cheek against his skin and listened to his heartbeat, so strong, so steady, and so fast. It almost felt as if that heart was trying to break free just to get closer to her.

She leaned back and placed a hand against that beating heart. “Shh,” she whispered. “Stay safely inside; I will take care of you wherever you are.”  
Fili took a deep, shuddering breath and leaned forward to cup her face in his hands. He gently met her lips with his.  
“Do you have any idea how much I love you, my jewel?” he whispered against her lips.  
“Show me,” Katla whispered back, her eyes close and a smile on her lips. 

Fili placed another gentle kiss onto her lips and reached around her to unwind the lacing of her bodice.  
“Mahal, give me patience,” he muttered through gritted teeth and with a sound that was somewhere between a chuckle and a giggle, Katla turned around to make it easier for him.

When he had finally succeeded in unlacing her dress enough so he could push it off her shoulders it slid down her body in a cascade of green and golden silk to pool at her feet. He closed his arms around her again and pulled her close, this time with her back against his chest. 

With a sigh that was so deep it was almost a moan, Katla lifted her arms to bury her hands into Fili’s hair as he closed his arms around her and cupped her breasts with trembling hands. His beard and moustache, unbraided as they were, created a deliciously scratchy tickle on her skin as he trailed his lips up and down her neck a few times. Her nipples hardened under her lover’s caress and stood out against the thin fabric of her shift, and she felt his hard groin dig into the small of her back.

“Katla...” Fili whispered against her skin and gently dug his teeth into the base of her neck. “I want you... my love...” His lips moved up to her ear, making Katla shudder as the scratchiness of his facial hair touched the sensitive skin. His voice was rough and deep. “I must have you, Katla, I must have you now.”  
“I’m not stopping you...” Katla wound out of his embrace and tugged at the lacing of her shift. 

As the thin, white fabric fell, uncovering her body completely to Fili’s hungry eyes, Fili was already unlacing his trousers with trembling hands. He pushed them down and only then remembered his boots. With a frustrated groan he fell onto the bed and struggled frantically to get his boots off. Having achieved that he stood up again and kicked off his trousers and pants.  
Katla watched him open mouthed and breathing heavily, as his eagerness to get rid of his garments did some very interesting and rather exiting things to his anatomy.

Fili didn’t give her any more time for admiration once he had finally shed the last bit of his clothing, though. He all but grabbed her into a fierce embrace and kissed her, gentle and tender giving way to passionate and hungry as they finally felt nothing but skin on skin. 

When Fili broke the kiss again they were both breathing heavily, and with a soft smile and hungry eyes, Fili pulled her towards the bed. 

He paused, but his smile widened when he watched her take the heavy quilted blanket form the bed and place it onto the floor in front of the hearth.

“I have so many fond memories...” She knelt down and smiled. “Come and share them with me.”

Fili knelt down and kissed her again, pushing her gently down as he did so. The fire in the hearth burned brightly, but they would not have felt cold had they been lying on snow. 

As Katla’s hands dug into his hair Fili covered her face and chest in kisses, caressing each sweet, round breast with his fingers, kissing each nipple and teasing it with his tongue until it stood hard and eager like a precious pearl against his lips. 

“Fili...” Katla gasped as he released the second of the dark pink buds form his lips. “Fili please... don’t make me wait any longer...”  
With a shaky chuckle he leaned over her, looking at her flushed face, tousled hair and eyes clouded with lust. And at that moment, Katla reached out and buried all her fingers into his beard, combed them through the stiff golden hairs and closed them into a good grip. Fili almost yelped in surprise when she pulled him down on top of her into another hungry, messy kiss.

She didn’t let go of his beard until Fili nudged her legs apart with his, and they both cried out in pleasure as their bodies finally joined, her tight heat enveloping him, his hard length filling her.  
Fili moved gently at first, but there was no pain this time, only pleasure.

The world stopped existing around them as their bodies moved in the oldest dance of life, the movements set by their bodies, the rhythm beating with their hearts. 

Fili heard his name coming from her lips as she clenched around him, her release so intense that she took him with her into the oblivion of climax, their cries mingling with each other’s as their souls became one in an explosion of a white hot fire of lust followed by the deep throb of satisfaction afterwards.

Heavy and limp Fili collapsed on to her, and he could hear her whisper his name over and over again as her hands sifted through his hair. It took him a long time until he could move again and could finally roll off her, coming to rest on his back with a heavy groan.

Katla instantly curled up against him with her head on his shoulder, and he pulled her close with a sigh.  
They might have fallen asleep for a while, their lust sated for the moment, their bodies exhausted from their lovemaking. In actual fact, none of the two knew nor cared to know how long they had been lying there when Katla sat up and placed a kiss on Fili’s lips.

He forced his eyes open with a dreamy smile. “I love you...”  
“And I love you.” Her smile was soft and sensuous, making Fili wish he could just start all over again. 

“But here, my love, can you sit up?”  
“Whatever for,” Fili muttered as he forced himself into a sitting position.  
Katla gave him a smile that made his skin prickle. “Because there is something we should not forget, this being our wedding night.”  
Fili felt his throat go dry.

Katla reached for her dress and hunted through the folds of fabric for the pocket and the item she had kept hidden in it. It was a comb, a finely carved and polished comb of sycamore. Then she got up and found, to her relief, a small, flat bowl with several beads and pieces of leather string on the nightstand. Her eyelids lowered, she crawled back to where Fili sat, watching her approach with the comb and the beads, his breathing already picking up speed again.  
After settling down cross legged behind him Katla reached out and ran a gentle hand down the side of Fili’s face. Fili closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

Humming softly under her breath Katla worked her way through Fili’s golden mane, entangling knots with her fingers and combing stand for strand until his hair was smooth to the touch and almost shiny. Still humming she proceeded to braid it, remembering when she had done it for him before. 

She paused deliberately after she had finished braiding his hair, and placed a few kisses onto his shoulders as she moved around him to kneel in front of him.

Fili had his eyes closed, but she could see the large jugular vein in his neck throb in time with his heartbeat, fast and strong.

With gentle, careful moves Katla began to straighten the hairs of his beard she herself had tangled not so long ago. An occasional heavy sigh mingled with Fili’s deep and heavy breaths.  
A smile on her lips Katla ran the comb through his beard far longer than was necessary to smooth it, and she could see that incredulous, tiny smile appear again she had seen last time when she had put the comb down and ran her fingers through one half of his moustache to part it into strands for braiding. Her fingers worked swiftly, and as she had clasped the second bead into place, she noticed Fili shudder and lick his dry lips. 

She placed a tender kiss onto those lips and with a deep, trembling breath, Fili opened his eyes again. Jade green looked into midsummer sky blue, and Fili gave her the most tender and heart-warming smile Katla had ever seen.  
“I’m not done yet,” she whispered under her breath.  
Fili’s smile did not change, but he swallowed hard when she reached out again. This time she took three thin strands on the left side of his chin and braided each of them separately about halfway down to join the three into one braid for the rest of the length. She fastened a bead to the end of that braid, and without meeting Fili’s eyes, repeated the same process on the other side. 

But when she finally looked at her love again, she was all but shocked to see him in tears. They brimmed in his eyes and painted a moist line down his cheeks, to vanish as glistening beads into the hair of his beard she had just so lovingly braided.  
“Fili, my love...” She placed both hands on his cheeks and touched his forehead with hers. “What is wrong? Why did I make you cry?”

Fili closed his arms around her with a soft sob and buried his face into her hair. “My love.” His voice was unsteady and husky. “My love, you did not make me cry. I just... I am just so happy I could burst.”  
Katla closed her arms around him and kissed his cheek. “Make love to me again,” she whispered.

Without another word, Fili shoved her gently back into the folds of the quilt.


	2. In the Forges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happens at some point between chapter 36 and chapter 37. And I just wrote this for fun and because. Because sweaty forge-Fili. Enjoy.

The hour was growing late but neither Katla nor Fili felt quite ready for sleep yet. They were comfortably settled in the large bed, wearing nothing but their skin, their backs against the headrest, and Fili had one arm around Katla, who rested her head on his shoulder, while he enjoyed a pipe full of Golden Horfindel. 

“Fili?” Katla said suddenly into the silence.  
“Hm?”  
“I just realised something.”  
“What is it, love?”

“Before our wedding, your mother told me of the cave... the cave with the pillar. She told me that Durin himself was born in that cave.”  
“And what about it?” Fili lazily sent a smoke ring upward.   
“Well, I heard other legends about Durin, namely that he was born in the forges of Erebor. Do you know which one is true?”

The pipe froze in mid-air. Fili blinked a few times and looked at Katla with a shrug. “To be honest...”  
“You don’t know?” Katla sat up and knelt. “And you of the line of Durin?”  
“How am I supposed to know if all the legends are true?” Fili chuckled and put his pipe down. “Why does it bother you so much?”  
“It doesn’t bother me.” Katla leaned forward, bringing her face closer to his. “I was just wondering...”  
“Wondering what?” Fili crossed his hands behind his back. 

“Wondering if the legends are really not contradictory after all. What if they just got mixed up a bit?”  
Fili chuckled again. “Tell me your thoughts.”  
Katla licked her lips. “I was just thinking, what if Durin was indeed born in that cave? I mean...” She frowned. “I have given birth once, and it was bad enough in a bed. But in a forge?With all that noise and dirt and steam... I can’t imagine any woman willingly doing it.”  
“Durin’s mother can’t have been like any other woman.” Fili lowered one arm and toyed with a few strands of Katla’s hair.  
“Absolutely. And that’s why I thought... well, maybe he was born in that cave, but he was... conceived in the forges?”

Fili blinked a few times as he stared straight ahead. “That makes more sense than any other explanation I have heard so far.”  
Seemingly satisfied with her train of thoughts, Katla rested her head against Fili’s bare shoulder again. 

But after a moment, she trailed a fingernail down between his pectorals. “Fili...?”  
Fili inhaled slowly. “Yes?”  
“I have not seen the forges yet.”  
“Well I’m sure we could...” Very slowly, Fili turned his head to look at Katla who was giving him a sweet, _almost_ innocent smile. “...oh.”  
Katla lowered her eyes and chewed her lower lip. 

“You want to see the forges of Erebor, hm?” Fili put a gentle forefinger under her chin and lifted her face.   
Katla smiled at him under lowered lids. “I’d love to.”  
“Who am I to deny that?” Fili laughed softly. “The forges have always been my favourite place. Second only to one.”  
“And that is?” Katla’s smile widened as Fili pulled her closer.   
“Right here beside you, my gemstone.” He kissed her then, and felt her smile against his lips.

**x-x-x**

Shortly afterwards they were dressed and on their way downwards into the mountain, heading for the forges. At this hour it was unlikely anyone would be still working, or already working, as it was. The few times Fili could remember having been there at this hour he had always been alone.

Katla clung to his arm as they entered the forges, and he had to admit he enjoyed her wide-eyed admiration as they passed the mighty furnaces that never rested. And in silence, he thanked Mahal for their noise. 

They passed several of the large furnaces before heading for another section of the forge, where all the small furnaces and anvils and workbenches stood. There was no one here, either, and Fili could feel his heartbeat quicken despite not really knowing if Katla really had meant what he thought she did, what he would have wanted to think. 

“This is where I usually work,” Fili said as they halted at the last workplace in the far end of the large hall. “And this is the last piece I was working on.” He took the finished sword that only lacked wrapping around the heft to be finished. “I want to give it to my brother for Durin’s day.”  
Katla touched the blade with a reverential look on her face. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

Fili could not suppress the guilty pleasure of pride washing over him, but then he put the blade down again and cupped Katla’s face in his hands. “So are you,” he whispered before he claimed her lips.

“Show me how you work,” Katla begged as he had released her from the kiss. “Let me see if you look like your forefathers labouring in the forges to build this place.”  
Fili smiled and shook his head, but found himself unable to resist that plea. He took off his shirt and tunic and put on the heavy leather apron. A few practised movements had the forge going as he pumped the bellows with his foot, and after a moment of thought, he selected a small iron billet that he pushed into the coals to heat, thinking that it was just as fine if she only wanted to watch him work. 

“What will you be doing?”  
“I will make Frerin a sword. That should be the right size for him.”

When the iron was glowing he took it out with his tongs, placed it on the anvil and brought his hammer down. After the first few strikes he had quite forgotten that he had an audience, already lost in the rhythm of hammer and anvil. 

It wasn’t until he felt the gentle touch of a hand on his left arm that he remembered that someone else was here with him. He dropped the hammer and gave Katla a sheepish grin. But Katla ran her finer across the muscles of his arm and met his eyes. “I would love to try that, but I doubt that I could even lift that hammer, let alone do anything useful with it.”  
“Honestly?” Fili felt a grin spread on his face. “You would want to try smithing?”  
“I would.” Katla shrugged. “But as I said...”

“Come here, love.” Fili stepped back from the anvil and removed the apron. He gave it to Katla and tied it behind her back. “Now stand here, and I help you.”  
Standing directly behind her, he guided her left hand with his left one to hold the tongs, and her right hand with the hammer with his right one. 

“Let the hammer do the work for you,” he said to her as he guided her hand up. “It’s heavy to lift, but as you bring it down, it’s that weight that does the work, more than your muscles.”  
The hammer fell, and a few sparks flew away from the glowing iron. A few times Fili guided her hand, and a few times after that, she managed to do it alone. 

But when he took her hand again to correct her stance, he felt her dig her backside into his groin.   
“I am not sure if this is the right time or place,” he whispered into her ear after leaning forward.   
“I’m sorry, my love.” Katla chuckled and turned her head to kiss his chin. “Your body does that to me.”  
“And your body, my jewel, has already done quite a few things to me as it is.” Fili nipped her earlobe. “Shall we continue or should we just... retire?”

“Why don’t we just... proceed?” Katla took the hammer again and weighed it in her hand.   
“As you wish.”Fili’s thoughts were tumbling a little, and Katla’s backside still digging into his groin wasn’t helping that fact. He brought the hammer down with a mildly frustrated grown.

“Katla, I promised Frerin a sword...”  
“And I promised him a baby brother,” Katla gave back, letting go of the hammer.   
“Mahal damn me, woman!” Fili laughed out loud and tossed hammer and glowing iron to the ground. 

It took only moments for him to unlace his trousers and free his already eagerly throbbing manhood after he had rid Katla of the leather apron. He hiked up her skirts rather unceremoniously and noticed at the edge of his consciousness that Katla was already gripping the edge of the anvil to steady herself. It was all getting too much and Fili let himself go.

One grip and a jerk and he had torn the front of her dress, bearing her breasts and closing his calloused fingers around them with a lustful hum, eliciting a couple of small, needy moans from her. Then he bent her over the anvil and entered her body in one smooth motion, and discovered she was more than ready for him.

With her bare breasts against the metal of the anvil that was still warm from the glowing iron and completely in Fili’s grip Katla held on to the anvil as Fili now set another rhythm that produced quite a different set of sounds than the ringing of metal on metal; yet the sounds of flesh hitting bare flesh and the ones that escaped them were all but drowned out by the roaring of the furnaces.

Katla felt his fingers dig into her flesh as he neared his closure, and when he did, he finished with deep, hard thrust that pushed her over the edge with him and made her cry out his name.

For a long time, neither of them moved as they just tried to catch their breath back and emerge again from the boneless state of post-coital bliss. When Fili finally stepped away from her she let herself fall against his body and he caught her, burying his face in the crook of her neck. 

“What happened to that shy, young girl I met in that lonely hut?”  
Katla chuckled. “I guess she grew up and realised how much she wants you.”  
“Really? I couldn’t have guessed.”

They shared a laugh and Katla turned around to embrace him. Fili closed his arm around her and sighed. “I’m sorry about your dress.”  
“I guess I will have to borrow your fur vest on our way back,” Katla muttered against his bare chest.   
“And what would we have done had someone chanced upon us?”  
Katla didn’t open her eyes. “We would have told him to leave us alone to do our duty for the line of Durin.”

Fili laughed softly into her hair. “If that is the duty that awaits me from now on, I’ll do it gladly.”  
Katla chuckled against his bare skin.


	3. Alone at last...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Silhouettes of Starlight over at fanfiction.net for giving me this idea.

It had been a tedious day for Fili, and he was all the more delighted to find his brother visiting when he came back to his own halls. 

Another delight was his son, who threw himself at Fili with a scream of joy.  
“ _Adad!_ ”  
Fili withstood the impact and picked his son up to throw him into the air and catch him again. The boy’s squeals of glee were as delightful as they were ear grating.  
“Again! Again, _Adad!_ ”  
Fili was happy to oblige and repeated throwing him until they were both out of breath. Katla watched this with a smile, and Kili could hardly contain his laughter. 

Still grinning himself Fili settled the boy on his hip and Frerin then clung to him like a burdock. 

“Evening, brother.” Fili nodded at Kili.  
“How was your day?” Katla asked and offered her arms to Frerin who emitted a sound of indignation and clung even more to Fili’s shirt.  
“Tedious.” Fili shifted Frerin in his arms and walked towards the armchairs at the hearth. He sat down and Frerin settled comfortably in his lap.

“Thranduil has sent another envoy,” Fili said and toyed with a strand of Frerin’s hair. “By my beard, I’ll never understand how he actually came to be Erebor’s ally in the past.”  
“I bet a lot of dwarrow have asked themselves that question after what happened during Smaug’s attack.” Kili pulled a footstool over to the hearth and sat down on it, offering the other chair to Katla who sat with a thankful nod. “Can’t be that much of an alliance anyway if it managed to break over a couple of gemstones.” Then he stretched out his legs and lit himself a pipe.  
“You’re right.” Fili shook his head as he looked at his brother. “And now I have to deal with him, as well. I swear, sometimes I have the feeling Thorin only gave me the crown so he could be finally free of that bothersome creature.”

Kili chuckled and, after looking at his brother with his arms full of Frerin, offered Fili his pipe. Fili took it with a grateful nod and inhaled deeply before handing it back. “I honestly don’t know why I put up with him,” Fili went on after exhaling the cloud, careful to avoid blowing it into his son’s face.

Frerin sat up and sniffed. “That pipe weed?”  
“Yes, that’s pipe weed, my boy.”  
“Can I try?”  
“No, not yet.”  
Frerin pouted. Kili grinned.  
“Look, when you...” Fili looked around searchingly. “When you’re taller than Uncle Kili’s sword, then you can try.”  
Frerin sat up and hopped form his father’s lap. “Uncle Kili! Uncle Kili!”

Chuckling, Kili handed the pipe to his brother and stood up. He unsheathed his sword and placed it tip down next to Frerin.  
The boy looked at the weapon; he was just tall enough so the top of his head was level with the handle. A frown appeared in addition to the pout. “It’s going to take forever!” He complained.

“No it won’t.” Kili sheathed his sword again and tousled Frerin’s hair. “And that’s why you’re not allowed pipe weed yet. Because you’re still growing, and you’ll stop growing when you smoke. We’re grown already, so it doesn’t matter. But if you want to grow, then you’ll have to wait. Otherwise, you’ll stay that size forever.”  
Frerin gazed up at his uncle, a deep, befuddled frown on his face. “Really?”  
“Really.” Kili nodded sagely. “Uncle-word-of-honour.”

Frerin crossed his arms, still pouting. “I’m never allowed anything.”  
Katla was just about to interject with some motherly chiding when Kili bent down and said: “What if you were allowed to stay with Uncle Kili overnight?”  
The pout transformed instantly into a grin. “Really?”  
Kili grinned in return, and Frerin jumped at him, slinging his arms around his uncle’s neck. Kili straightened up with a grin. 

“ _Amad?_ ” Frerin clung to Kili, arms thrown around his neck. “ _Adad?_ May I? Please?”  
“Of course you may.” Fili got up and handed his brother the pipe back.  
“I’ll pack a few things,” Katla said and headed for Frerin’s room. 

Frerin could hardly contain his childish excitement. 

“Dare I ask why he is always so excited when he’s allowed to stay with you?” Fili smiled crookedly at his brother.  
“What about it?” Kili grinned. “It’s the joy of having an uncle!”  
“And sugar almonds!”  
“Shhh!” Kili gave his brother a panicked look.  
“Oh!” Frerin, deeply unhappy, covered his hand with his mouth. 

Fili was hard pressed not to laugh. “We keep this a secret from _amad_ , aye?”  
Frerin nodded hastily.

“Here you go.” Katla emerged from Frerin’s room and handed Kili a small bag. “Enjoy yourselves.”  
“Likewise!” Kili gave back with an entirely too broad, beaming grin.  
Katla blushed and Fili stroked his beard to be able to hold his laughter back. 

Kili set Frerin down and took his hand, and the boy skipped happily alongside his uncle. “Bye, _amad_ and _adad!_ Good night!”

Fili and Katla waved, and when the door had closed, Fili fell into his chair and laughed. Katla, still blushing but grinning, shook her head. Once Fili had gotten his breath back he got up and slung his arms around Katla’s hips. “Now, being as my brother is a very wise man, I would suggest we heed his words and... enjoy ourselves.”

Arm in arm they headed for their bedroom. Fili closed the door behind him and while Katla watched him under lowered lids, he sighed. “Alone at last.”

When he turned around, he saw Katla opening the uppermost silver button of her bodice. “What kind of enjoyment exactly did you have in mind, my King?”  
Fili undid his belt and dropped it. “The royal kind, my Queen,” he said as he shed his vest. “The one thing only the King is allowed to do.”  
“And what is that?” Katla opened the second button. 

Fili took another step forward and pulled his shirt over his head. He threw it behind him and closed the distance between him and Katla in one step. “Having his way with the Queen, of course.” He slung his arms around Katla’s hips again and pulled her into a kiss. 

The door to the bedroom flew open and Fili and Katla jumped away from each other like adolescents caught doing something indecent.

Frerin stood in the door. “I forgot my toy horse and I can’t find it!”  
Katla forced the breath back into her lungs.”It is in your room, my love.”  
“But I can’t find it!”  
Fili dragged both hands down his face. Katla shot him an amused glance. 

“Can you find it, _amad?_ ” Frerin stepped into the room, looked around, caught sight of his father, and his eyes widened in utter indignation.

“ _Adad!_ ” he said accusingly. “You can’t just leave that lying around like this!” In perfect imitation of his mother’s tone and gestures, he pointed at Fili’s carelessly discarded garments.  
Katla coughed as she left the bedroom. 

“Uh... Yes, I’m sorry.” Feeling utterly foolish and mildly contrite, Fili hastily collected his garments and folded them neatly on the nightstand. “Won’t happen again.”  
Frerin waggled his forefinger at him.  
“Yes, yes, I said I’m sorry, right?” Fili crossed his arms, still trying to keep up with events.

“Here, my love.” Katla returned with the toy horse and Frerin took it with a squeak.  
“Thank you, _amad!_ ” And out of the door he was, audibly so as the door to their chambers fell very loudly shut.

Katla looked at her chided husband and her ribs hurt. Fili gave her a frustrated glare and sat down on the bed. Then Katla took a deep breath, but still felt as if her ribs were spraining any moment.  
Fili looked up at her, defeated. “Oh for Mahall’s sake, go ahead and laugh.”

Katla finally lost the fight and gave in with a pealing laughter. She had to grab the bedpost for support and laughed so hard that tears were streaming down her face. When she finally straightened up again Fili had lit himself a pipe.

“I’m sorry,” Katla said and wiped her face. “I’m really sorry my love...”  
“No, you’re not.” Fili clamped his teeth around the stem of his pipe and crossed his arms. “Not really.”  
Katla took a few deep breaths to calm down further and sat down beside Fili. “Is there anything I could do for you?”  
“Give me back my dignity...” Fili said through his clenched teeth and puffed his cheeks. He exhaled a large cloud and sighed.  
Katla’s face softened and she took the pipe out of Fili’s unresisting mouth. “Come here, my love. Let me kiss it better.” 

She placed her hands on Fili’s cheek and met his lips in a tender kiss. After a few moments, Fili began to unwind and pulled Katla closer. Their kiss deepened, and they slowly sank down into the pillows.  
Fili broke the kiss and buried his face in the crook of Katla’s neck and she sighed deeply as she buried her hands into Fili’s hair while he gently nipped at the soft and tender skin

The door opened with a slam and Fili jumped so high he fell out of the bed. Katla hastily sat up. 

“ _Amad!_ I just wanted to say I’m also talking my soldier! Good night!”

Fili got up with an angry groan to follow his son. Katla, worried about Fili’s temper, hastily followed. But it was not Frerin that Fili was after. The moment Frerin was about to close the door he took the handle from his son and opened it again.

Upon the sight of his brother, bare-chested, dishevelled, his hair tousled and the lacing of his trousers half undone, Kili doubled over with howling laughter.

“You beardless piece of...”  
“Fili!” Katla snapped. “Mind your language in front of the boy!”  
Fili growled like an animal. “I’ll get you for this, Kili. I swear I will get you for this!”

Frerin looked worriedly back and forth between his father and his uncle. “Uncle Kili? Why is Adad so angry?”  
Kili tried to calm himself. “It’s because I played a little prank on him.”  
“A prank?” Frerin grinned. “What kind of prank?”  
Kili’s laughter died in his throat. “Uh... a... an uncle prank.”

Then Kili noticed his brother’s eyes resting on him in grim satisfaction. “Go on. You’re the uncle, you explain your pranks.”

He looked at Katla, the two exchanged a grin, and closed the door into Kili’s mildly panicked face as Frerin demanded: “Uncle? What kind of prank? What kind of prank, Uncle Kili?”

Fili draped his arms around Katla again and met her eyes. “Dare we venture for a third attempt?”  
Katla laughed softly. “I’d dare say your brother is done with his prank by now.”  
Fili chuckled.  
“But it may be prudent to lock the bedroom door.” Katla reached out and wound a braid of Fili’s moustache around her finger, then used it to pull his face closer.  
“A sound idea, my love,” Fili replied before kissing her.


	4. A Ghost of the Past

Katla woke up, ice-cold and unable to move. Eyes wide open she stared into the darkness of the bedroom.   
The only sound was Fili’s deep and even breathing.  
After a few deep breaths to calm herself, Katla realised that she had been dreaming. There was no one crying for help. A shiver crept down her spine.

It was as if she could still hear the voice in her head, begging her to help. Katla had no idea who it was, and what she could possibly help with, but it had been so vivid, so clear...

And with a flash of insight, accompanied by a gust of panic, she knew whom she had been dreaming about. 

Forcing herself to remain slow and quiet and to breathe evenly, Katla crept out of the bed. Fili stirred, but did not wake up. After another look at her sleeping husband, Katla hastily threw a shawl around her shoulders and left their chambers. 

It was silent outside in the halls of the royal quarters, but Katla saw a few rooms where light was still spilling faintly out from under the doors.   
One of these doors was her destination, and she was relieved not having to wake him. Standing in front of the door she hesitated, but something inside her forced Katla to knock.

The door opened, and Thorin gave her a puzzled look. “Katla? What are you doing here at this time?”  
“Please... can I come in?”  
Still puzzled, Thorin stepped aside and closed the door behind him. 

Katla looked around and shivered. The coldness was becoming worse, and she was reminded of the feeling that had possessed her during the council session that had ended with her vision about Balin’s grave in Moria. This was feeling much the same. Too much. 

“Katla?” Thorin took her elbow. “What in Durin’s name is the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”  
Katla swallowed and stared into the hearth. “I think... I think I have.”

“Katla?”  
She looked up to see Skadi leave the bedroom, buttoning a dressing gown. “I’m sorry for the late interruption but...”  
“Something heavy must be on your mind, no matter the hour. What is it?” Skadi looked as worried as Thorin did. 

Feeling another icy chill, Katla could only shudder. “I’ve seen her...” She whispered. “I heard her voice...”  
“Who did you see?” Thorin and Skadi exchanged an uneasy look. “Whose voice?”  
“I... I don’t really know...” Katla said, when in truth, she was almost certain whom it was she had seen and heard. Yet she still clung to a feeble hope she might have been mistaken. “A woman. She begged me for help.”

“And do you know that woman?” Skadi walked to her other side and took one of Katla’s hands. “And why by Durin’s beard did you come here and not to Fili?”  
Katla swallowed. “I wanted...”

There was a knock on the door, and Katla almost jumped out of her skin.

“What is it with tonight?” Thorin grumbled, only to find Fili standing before his door, a deeply concerned and worried look on his face. “You, too?”  
“Me what?” Fili blinked. “I’m looking for Katla, and...”

“But you were fast asleep when I left...”   
“Katla?” Fili stepped past Thorin and shrugged. “I woke up, and you were gone. You never leave our chambers at night and I... I don’t know...” Fili began to realise that he might have overreacted. “I was worried...” he ended lamely.

Thorin looked back and forth between the two. “Katla was scared out of her wits when she came. I gather you somehow picked up on that when she woke up.”  
“Maybe.” Fili walked to Katla’s side. “But why didn’t you wake me up?”  
“Because...” Katla closed her eyes. “I needed to come here, and I didn’t want...” She broke off, staring wide-eyed at nothing.

Fili took her arm. “Katla...?”  
Katla shuddered and fell against him. “I heard it again,” she almost sobbed.   
“What did you hear?”

Katla was silent for a long time before she peeled herself out of Fili’s embrace. She seemed to have made up her mind, because most of the fear was gone.

“I am not sure.” Katla took a deep breath. “But someone was calling for help, and I think I know who it was.”

Fili blinked slowly and looked at Thorin who could only shrug. 

“These were your chambers, Fili, weren’t they?”  
“Uh... yes. Before we moved...”  
“And you lived here with your first wife?”  
Fili looked as if he had been hit by a frying pan. “Wha... yes, but why...”

Katla looked down at her feet. “I heard her name once. But that was all I know about her.”  
“About whom?” Thorin looked at Fili whose face had drained of all colour. “Ysona?”  
“That was her name, wasn’t it?”  
Fili nodded mutely.

Katla pulled the shawl closer around her shoulders and looked up. “I saw... I saw a young woman. Delicately build, with fine and delicate features. Blond curls and honey coloured eyes. Her chin hair was decorated with sweet water pearls.”

“Ysona...”  
Fili looked as if he was about to faint. Thorin took a small step to his side and took his nephew’s arm, and to his dismay discovered that is was as hard and rigid as wood.  
“Fili, my lad,” he said gently. Fili didn’t react.

Katla slowly turned around again to look at the hearth. “I heard her voice. She begged me to help her.”

A sound escaped Fili that was something between a choked sob and a gasp. Thorin draped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

“Thorin...” Fili whispered, his voice shaky with horror.  
Thorin couldn’t remember when last it had happened that he had to comfort his nephew like this. Fili was absolutely out of his wits.  
“Was she here... all the time?” Fili shuddered. “Has she been...”

“No, I don’t... I don’t think so, although I don’t know how I know this.” Katla turned around again. “She was... here, but not as in... here inside these chambers. I can’t explain it...”  
“But what now?” Skadi looked at Fili, then at Katla. “And why did you come here?”

Katla looked at her fingers that nervously picked at each other. “I had the feeling that... because she lived here... that I could find her.”  
“And find out how to help her.”  
Katla nodded. “She is not at peace.”

“She wouldn’t be,” Fili rasped tonelessly. “Not after the way she died...”  
“I don’t know how she died.” Katla shrugged. “I don’t know if that has anything to do with it.”  
“She was pregnant, but something went wrong,” Thorin replied. “No one knew why, but she bled to death in terrible pain. She refused to take an abortive potion until it was too late.”  
Katla closed her eyes. “In that case it is likely that it has something to do with it.”

Fili shook his head and lowered it. Thorin left his arm in place and looked up at Katla. 

“So what do we do now?” He asked. “Did you have a plan when you came here?”  
“Not really.” Katla adjusted the shawl around her shoulders. “But I think I will try to let her find me.” She looked at Skadi. “I don’t know why... would you extinguish the candles?”

Skadi nodded and set about blowing out all the candles in the room until the only source of light was the fire in the hearth. Thorin could feel his nephew take a step back and followed until Fili’s back was pressed against the wall. He noticed that Skadi stepped beside Fili and took one of his hands. 

Katla stood close to the hearth and listened, her heart racing with fear. For a while, nothing happened. She was about to give up when suddenly... 

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. 

Katla forced herself to ignore Fili’s discomfort and fear. Her eyes closed, she slowly turned away from the fire. The air was cooler as she turned away from the fire. But suddenly, it was cold. Katla stopped and opened her eyes. Suddenly all fear was gone as if banished from her soul.  
“I am here,” she whispered. “I will help you.”

Thorin felt every hair on his body rise, and Fili beside him stiffened even more. Like a child he buried his face into Thorin’s shoulders. “Uncle...”  
Thorin pulled him closer. “It’ll be all right, lad.”

Katla felt a faint gust of cold wind in her face. She couldn’t see anything, but she felt it. Like the presence of someone in a dark room, she felt her now.

And then she heard the words. 

_Sorrow_

“I understand,” Katla whispered gently. “You were so young.”

_Sorrow_   
_Pain_

“I know. You wanted the child to live, but it could not be.”

Katla felt another breath of coldness in her face. Then she felt it, somehow closer. As if, by welcoming her, she had enable her to become clearer.

_I am so sorry_

“What are you sorry about?”

_I made him kill my brother_   
_I broke my mother, and father’s heart._

The other three could only hear Katla’s part of the conversation, of course. Thus it was that Thorin was mildly shocked when Katla suddenly asked why Fili had killed her brother.

“He was mad, a madness of the darkest sort,” Thorin finally said. “He lusted after his sister and tried to rape her once. Fili did not want her shamed because of a cursed family and decided to do away with him so Ysona’s reputation would take no harm. But he was his father’s only heir.”  
“I understand.”

Katla focussed on the darkness again.

“You tried to protect yourself.”

_He was my brother_

“He bore ill will towards you.”

_He loved me_

“It was a twisted, evil kind of love.”

For a long time, Katla felt nothing. Then she felt as if she could hear someone weep.

“How can I help you?”

_The child_

“I am so sorry.” Katla felt tears choke her. “I am so sorry, but the child is dead.”

_Fili_

“He is alive and well.”

_My prince_

“He was, yes.”

After that, Katla didn’t feel anything for a long time. Behind her, she could hear the uneasy shuffling of Thorin, Skadi and Fili.

“Ysona?” Katla kept her voice low, but speaking the name, even in a whisper, sent another icy shiver down her spine.  
A cold, faint breeze on her face.

_I loved him_   
_I love him still_

“I understand,” Katla whispered, tears trickling down her cheeks. “I love him too, with all my heart.”

_He did not love me_

“I am sorry. Not the way you would have wanted him to.”

_He loves you_

“He does.”

_Is he happy_

“He is. We have a son.”

Another cold breeze touched Katla’s face, but this time, it almost felt like a caress. 

_I miss him_

“No doubt you do. I feel your pain of losing him.” Sorrow choked her at the thought of losing him herself.

_I never said farewell_

“You had not the strength. In the end, you were too weak.”

_I need to say farewell_

“How can I help you? Shall I tell him?”

_I want to say farewell_

“But what can I do?”

_Let me in_

“To say farewell...”

Katla understood, but the thought frightened her beyond words to express it. But she had promised she would help. She had no idea what to do, so she simply closed her eyes and tried to open her mind, tried to be welcoming and not shy away from whatever would happen next.  
She felt coldness, and suddenly, she was so cold she didn’t even freeze anymore. At the same time she felt unable to move. Apart from her lips, which moved beyond her means to control them.

“Fili?”

Fili’s knees almost gave way under him. What he heard was not Katla’s voice anymore and he held on to Thorin for dear life. Thorin himself felt the horror now, too, and he heard Skadi gasp for air. 

“Fili?”

“Ysona?” Fili’s voice trembled, nothing more than a husky whisper.  
“My prince. My love. I wanted to give you a son.”  
Fili swallowed. “I know. I am sorry it wasn’t meant to be.”  
“But you have a son now.”  
“I have,” Fili said, his voice hardly audible.

“I loved you.”  
“I am sorry.” Fili shuddered, and droplets of cold sweat trickled down his temples. “I am sorry I could not love you the way you wanted me to.”  
“You loved someone else.”  
“I did, and I still do.”

A long pause followed Fili’s last admission. He was allowing himself the hope that she might have gone, but then he heard her voice again.

“Are you happy?”  
Fili licked his dry lips. He would have lied for her sake if not for the certainty that you should not lie to a spirit. “I am, Ysona. I could not be happier.”  
“Your heart has healed.”  
“It... it has.”  
“Then I am glad. I want you to be happy.” She paused. “I wanted to say farewell.”

Fili opened his eyes again, thought it made little difference in the darkness of the room. “Farewell. Farewell, my princess. May you finally find the peace you deserve.”  
“Farewell, my prince. Please do not forget me.”  
“I could never forget you, Sapphire Princess.”

The fire crackled in the hearth. The silence was palpable.

And suddenly, Katla collapsed with a heavy groan. 

“Skadi, the candles,” Thorin said. “Quick!”  
Skadi took the nearest candle and lit it at the fire with shaking hands. She hurried around the room as fast as she could without extinguishing it and lit the candles again. 

Fili fell onto his knees beside Katla and gathered her up into his arms. Thorin knelt on her other side, mustering her with deep concern.

“Katla! Katla, my love! Wake up!” Fili sounded close to panic. “Katla!”  
Katla’s eyelids fluttered and she coughed. Then her eyes opened and came to rest on Fili. She smiled, and tears broke free from her eyes, spilling down her face and trickling into her hair. 

With a chocked sob, Fili pulled her close and buried his face into her hair. Katla slung her arms around him and for a while they just remained like this, holding on to each other with all their strength. 

“Is it over?” Skadi had put the candlestick down and slung her arms around her body. “Is she gone?”  
Thorin got up and walked up to her to take her into his arms. “I hope so,” he said. “I hope her soul has finally found peace.”  
Skadi buried into Thorin’s embrace. “The poor soul.”

Somewhat later, Thorin accompanied Fili and Katla to their own bedroom. He bade them a good night before he left but doubted that either of them would find any more rest that night. 

Katla and Fili were huddled together under their blankets, holding on to each other like frightened children. And slowly, hesitatingly at first and interspersed with hardly suppressed sobs, Fili began to tell Katla everything about Ysona and his time with her. From the first time he had met her until the moment she had drawn her last breath with him holding her hand. He talked about his own anguish at losing Katla and his son, all the suffering, the emptiness in his soul that had frightened him so; he talked about the sorrow and the fear, but also about the small moments of peace and joy. 

Katla listened to all this while gently stroking his hair, and when he had finally emptied his soul to her she let him make love to her with a fierce desperation, bearing his need and his anguish without any self-regard. When he had finally collapsed onto her and muttered desperate apologies into her hair for using her so she simply kissed him and told him she would help him heal in any way she could, just as he would do for her.

He started sobbing again, and Katla simply held him until he had spent all his tears. It was a healing catharsis she knew he needed, and she also knew that after this, he would never cry again for what was now behind him. 

They did indeed not sleep any more that night.

They both were drained and tired after that night lay behind them, but in unspoken agreement they dressed themselves and left their quarters, together with Frerin whom they dropped off at his grandmother’s chambers. 

They headed downwards, deep into the mountain, and finally reached the tombs where Fili led the way until they had reached the solitary sarcophagus that held the mortal remains of Ysona.

Fili placed a sprig of rosemary onto her coffin. “Farewell, Sapphire Princes. May you finally find peace.”  
Katla placed another sprig of rosemary beside Fili’s. “Farewell, Sapphire Princess. Rest, and find peace. You shall not be forgotten.”

They stood in silence for a while before they turned around and left. After a few steps, however, Katla turned around again. 

“I shall take good care of him, and of his heart. You can go in peace.”

A light breeze caressed her face for a second and was gone. Katla smiled, and took Fili’s arm. Together they headed back to the world of the living.


	5. How to please a King

Two candles cast a gentle sheen of golden light across the room, and the dancing flames in the hearth turned the dim light in the bedroom into liquid amber.

Fili sat barefoot and bare-chested on the edge of the bed and enjoyed his evening pipe, sitting with his legs drawn up and eyes half closed while Katla knelt behind him and gently kneaded the muscles in Fili’s shoulders.

“I could sit here like this for hours...” Fili muttered luxuriously and sighed.  
Katla chuckled. “I bet you could.”  
Fili let his head drop back as far as he could and squinted up into Katla’s face. He opened his mouth to say something but Katla leaned over him and took his chance to make a teasing reply.

“If you keep kissing me like this...” Fili said as he straightened up and brought the pipe back to his lips, “...then I’ll get a crick and will be needing more of those administrations.”  
Katla leaned forward and slung her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Mahal save me...” she breathed into his ear, voice deliberately deep and husky. Fili shuddered ever so slightly.

Fili exhaled a cloud and watched it curl upward. A smile played around his lips as he leaned his head in and touched temples with Katla. “I am sure I can return the favour somehow...” He said, his voice equally low.  
“Can I make a wish?” Katla asked, sounding suddenly shy again.  
“A wish?” Fili couldn’t suppress a slightly cocky grin and dropped forward onto all fours to be able to reach the nightstand and put his pipe down. Then he turned around and knelt before Katla who looked at him shyly. 

“I don’t think I will ever get used to this,” Fili said softly.   
“To what?” Katla pulled the shawl a little tighter around her shoulders.  
“To you. And your... I don’t know how to call it.” He smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You can be so confident and suddenly, you are the shy girl again I met in that shabby little hut so many years ago.”

Katla blushed. “I’m sorry if...”  
“No.” Fili leaned forward and cupped her face in his palms. “No, don’t ever be sorry for anything about you. I will not have that.” He kissed her gently. “Never.”  
“All right, but...” She gripped the shawl again, a gesture that Fili could remember from their time together in Katla’s home, mostly used to cover some sort of embarrassment than actually adjusting an item of wardrobe.

“It’s...” He searched for a way to convey his feelings. “It’s like that shawl, you know. I can’t say how happy I am that you still have it, it carries so many fond memories. And when you sit there like that, shy and insecure, you will always dig your fingers into it and...” He sighed, shook his head and pulled her close so their foreheads touched. “You are my queen, Katla, my woman. And you somehow still are the young maiden who saved my life, the one who stole my heart. My jewel. My gemstone.”

Katla bit her lower lip. “You’re making me cry.”  
Fili emitted a soft chuckle. “That was not my intention. I am just... sometimes I still can’t believe you are here, and mine, and sometimes I feel that you have been here forever. But then I see you like this, a little embarrassed and clutching your shawl, and I feel as if I travelled back in time. It’s like you’ve changed, but then... you haven’t...” He broke off, looking lost. “I’m not making sense...”

Running her hands through his hair, Katla smiled softly. “But I think I understand. I couldn’t be the same young girl after all that happened. Motherhood, loneliness, the need to belong... and then finally belonging somewhere. And then getting you back. But some things about a person will never change. And I guess being easily embarrassed is what I am stuck with.”

They shared a chuckle. 

“But you know you need not be,” Fili said after a moment. “I mean, I can understand why you feel it, but really, there’s no need. There is nothing between us that either of us should ever feel embarrassed about.”  
With a smile, Katla wound one of his moustache braids around her finger and pulled him close for a kiss. 

Fili gladly obliged and closed his arms around her shoulder to push her down, but she resisted and broke the kiss again.

“About that wish...” She whispered, visibly trying not to be embarrassed.  
“Just one?” Fili winked at her.  
“Just one.”Katla chewed her lower lip, but it looked thoughtful, not flustered. 

“I want to...” She said, and took a deep breath.   
Fili smiled at her, all dimples and glinting eyes. “Yes?”  
“I want to learn... how to please you.” Katla lowered her eyes.

Fili chortled and laughed gently. “Katla, my love...” He pulled her close. “There is nothing to learn, I assure you.”  
“I know... no.” She leaned back. “That’s not what I meant. I know you are pleased and I know you are satisfied when you have made love to me, but that... that is just... I want to...”  
“But...” Fili’s smile began to wither. “Is there something you miss?”  
“No!” Katla hurried to say. “No, I miss nothing! But I just...” She bit her lip again. “I think it’s just that you are making love to me, and don’t think I don’t love what you do. But I want to do it too.”  
Fili frowned a little. “You want to...?”  
Katla’s eyes darted this way and that. Then she looked up and met Fili’s eyes. “I want to make love to you.”

“But...” Fili ran a hand through his hair. “I’m afraid I don’t quite understand.”  
Katla took a deep breath. “When we make love, then it is you... it is you who does all these wonderful things to me.”  
Fili couldn’t suppress a small grin.  
“And you know me so well, and you know my body so well. As if... as if you learned my body like an instrument, and you play it perfectly. And I want that, too. I want to know your body the way you know mine.”

Fili stared at her for a long time. “Well I...” he began huskily and licked his suddenly dry lips. “I won’t stop you...”  
Katla chuckled with another blush darkening her cheeks. “But I... I don’t really know that much... about men. I mean...” She swallowed hastily and went on, ignoring Fili’s amused head shake. “Back in Ered Luin we used to sit together, the other women and I, when we did quilting or spinning and weaving, and Mahal, how my ears burned sometimes. They would exchange all sort of advice on marital life, but largely, it concerned how to get your man to finish as fast as possible.”

Fili snorted and shook his head again.

Katla toyed with a corner of her shawl. “And I would remember you, and I thought to myself that their husbands had to be poor lovers indeed if they had so little enjoyment.”  
This time, Fili had to laugh. “You cannot imagine what these words to do my vanity!”  
“I can perfectly well imagine,” Katla replied with a laugh of her own. Then she was serious again. “But there were a few things I remember and where I still think that... that you might like them. So if I just...”

“Katla.” Fili interrupted her gently. “This is not going to turn into a lesson like my mother holds for you regarding Khuzdul or protocol, aye?” He leaned forward and kissed her. “We are both supposed to enjoy this.”  
Katla smiled warmly and ran a hand down his cheek. “So what do I do...?”  
Fili leaned back with a chuckle and settled down on the mattress. “Whatever you want, my love.”

A warm glow began to spread in his body as he watched Katla lean over his face. A few strands of her hair tickled his cheeks.

“But what if I do something that you don’t...”  
“I can hardly imagine that will happen, but if so, then I’ll shout. Or make strangling noises. Or cough. Or should I...”  
Katla shut him with a fiery, open-mouthed kiss.  
“... just shut up...” Fili finished in a husky whisper as Katla leaned back. He closed his eyes and swallowed.

Katla smiled down at him and after biting on her lower lip for a final time, discarded first her shawl and then her shift. Fili was watching her every move through lowered eyelids, and when Katla saw this look on his face she suddenly knew that she could do nothing wrong. Her insecurity vanished, and she leaned down again for another kiss.

After that she knelt beside him and sat back on her heels, just drinking in the sight of his bare, well-shaped torso. Her hands began to move almost of their own accord and wandered across his skin, tracing every faint silver line that had once been a wound, every blue mark that decorated his chest and arms and every curve of every muscle. Her fingers combed through the springy golden curls covering his skin and muscles and a soft, content hum vibrated in Fili’s chest. 

Katla leaned closer to his face and toyed with his hair, meeting his eyes again that looked at her with so much love and longing that she felt her heart clench for a second. She claimed his lips again, digging her hands into his hair, and from his lips, drew a line of soft kisses along his jawbone and up to his right ear. 

Fili emitted a soft sigh and squirmed a little as her lips gently caressed his ear, and he drew in a sharp breath when she carefully nipped his earlobe. Her fingers went on caressing his beard as her lips placed tender kisses onto his face; his forehead, his nose, his eyelids, his cheeks. When she reached the left ear and carefully played with it, using teeth and tongue, she drew the first soft moan from his lips.

Smiling to herself she straightened up and ran her fingers through his beard, but this time, no sound emerged. Fili’s lips parted and his eyes were closed, an expression of dreamy disbelief on his face. 

Katla readjusted her position so she was more lying than sitting beside him now and leaned over him again, gently digging her teeth into the tender skin of his neck. She was rewarded with a soft gasp. Remembering how it felt when Fili did it with her, she sucked a little of the skin between her lips and Fili gasped again, his fists slowly curling. When she leaned back she could see she had left a mark on his skin, but when she told Fili that all he did was smile and whisper: “I shall bear it with pride.”

She let her lips trail across the skin of his arms after that, discovering every line and every curve. She placed a kiss into the palm of his hand, onto each fingertip, onto his knuckles, and went the whole way back to his shoulder, trailing kisses across his chest to discover his other arm. She marvelled at the intricate ink designs decorating his skin and at the fact that these hands, so strong and bearing calluses from both sword and hammer, could be so gentle and set her body on fire with their touches.

She drew another sharp gasp from him when she cautiously caressed his left nipple with a finger; but when she leaned down to caress it with lips and tongue she could hear him moan softly and say her name, soft like a kiss, urgent like a prayer.   
By the time she had given his right nipple the same treatment he was breathing hard and fast, his eyes pinched shut. 

When Katla straightened up again she could feel her own desire growing, and with a soft look and parted lips she began to untie the lacing of Fili’s trousers. She tugged them halfway down his hips and then leaned over to claim another kiss. Fili hungrily responded and opened his lips to her while digging his fingers into her hair. When Katla broke the kiss she realised he was hard pressed catching his breath, his eyes were clouded with lust, his hair tousled and his temples shining with moisture. 

“Turn around, please,” she whispered. “I haven’t touched your back yet.”  
Fili swallowed hard but obliged and buried his face into the pillows as Katla’s fingers did what they had done earlier, tracing every line and curve, every scar and every tattoo. She trailed a line of kisses up his spine, from the small of his back up to the back of his neck before playfully digging her teeth into his shoulder.  
Fili responded with a low, almost despairing growl.

Katla placed another line of kisses down his spine, and when she had reached the waistband of his trousers she hooked her fingers into it and the pants he wore underneath and slowly pulled it down. Fili was willing to help and lifted his hips so she could remove it, and once she had dropped the garments she could finally look at him in all his glory. She couldn’t’ suppress a sigh of bliss.

Fili chuckled shakily into his pillow. “I gather you like what you see?”  
“No.” Katla chuckled, too. “I love it.”  
She pinched one of his buttocks, so unexpected for him that it made him squeak. Katla couldn’t suppress a laugh.  
“Oh my dignity...” Fili muttered into his pillow.   
“Oh your perfect backside,” Katla replied with a giggle. “You don’t need any dignity, my love. Not when you have such a perfect... fundament.”  
“You are getting very cocky.” His voice was muffled by the pillow. “Should I worry?”  
“No,” Katla said and placed a kiss onto the very place she had just pinched. “I won’t eat you.”

“Well that’s some...” Fili bit into his pillow, because Katla had dug her teeth into his buttock. She looked at the mark she had left with a satisfied smile and continued her exploration of his body down his legs. 

Fili was beginning to get restless and shifty, his small sounds of pleasure more and more needy as she worked her way down his legs with caresses of her fingers and gentle kisses.   
Kneeling between his feet and sighting up his completely bared backside she paused, as this was a sight she had never seen so far, not in this glorious perfection. 

Her voice was husky when she said. “Turn around, and show me.”  
“Show you what?” Fili asked hoarsely as he peeled his face out of the pillows.   
“You.” Katla swallowed and licked her lips. “Everything.”

Fili pushed himself up with a breathless little chuckle and flopped back down onto his back. He lifted his head and met Katla’s eyes. She was kneeling between his legs and between them was only Fili’s hard and trembling erection. But when Katla slowly lowered her eyes to his groin, he swallowed hard and let his head fall back with a deep and heartfelt moan.

Of course Katla was familiar with that specific piece of anatomy, but she had never been so close, it had never been presented to her like this. She had touched it, of course, but now she had time to study it up close. Fili gasped her name when he felt her breath grazing the hot and sensitive skin.

“Can I touch you?” Katla asked in a low whisper.  
Fili emitted a sound that was almost a wail. “You do everything you want...” he chuckled breathlessly.  
Katla smiled and carefully touched the base of his erection; then cupped the soft, silky pouch tufted with wiry golden hairs, and gently closed her fingers around it to feel the two mysterious orbs inside.  
“Careful with these!” Fili gasped, his head rearing up.

Katla smiled at him, taking in the wide-eyed stare, the beads of moisture on his temples, the flushed cheeks and slightly swollen lips. Her lips parted, and with a soft smile, she lowered her head.

Fili’s head fell back with a deep and heavy moan as she placed a tender kiss onto each of these orbs that she knew to be terribly vulnerable. She kissed them again, just to hear that noise from Fili again, and when she looked up again she saw that his fists were curling into folds of the sheet under him, threatening to tear it apart. 

She let go of the pouch and Fili’s breath exploded in a huff, only to hitch again with another gasp when she closed her hand around the eager shaft in front of her.

“Katla, please...”

Chewing her lower lip in a mix of nervous anticipation and lust, she moved her hand down, thus exposing the final bit of him to her eyes.

“Katla!”

She moistened her lips and gave him the last, most intimate of kisses. 

Fili let out a long, drawn out moan and from the corner of her eye Katla could see his fists tighten so hard that his knuckles went white. She moved her tongue and took him deeper in. 

“Katla!” His voice was hoarse and trembling. “Katla stop... I can’t...”  
Her head flew upward and she stared at Fili in deep concern. “Am I doing this wrong?”  
“NO!” Fili gulped for air. “No! You’re perfect... and I can’t... I can’t stop myself, Katla. I will...”  
Katla suddenly understood. “Should I stop? Don’t you want that?”  
“Don’t torture me!” Fili all but yelled at her in utter despair. “Of course I want! It’s just that...” He gasped for air. “I can’t stop it...”  
“I know.” Katla lowered her head again.

Fili gave up. 

When her lips closed around him again he gave in to the sensation, making sounds he had no idea he could produce. He bucked into her, two times, three, and with the heat flowing in his body suddenly coming all together in one spot he felt the vice of his climax grab him. Dimly he was aware that it was her name on his lips, but he could hardly believe that this ragged, concupiscent scream was his own voice.

Katla listened to his sounds of pleasure that somehow sparked her own arousal even more. She felt his climax approach and closed her eyes, and as she heard him scream her name all she could do was swallow everything he had to give.  
She drank him dry.

When she let go of his softening manhood that then rested comfortably in the thick nest of springy golden curls she crawled to his side, but before she could protest Fili had pulled her into a fierce embrace and muttered endearments into her hair while his breathing slowly calmed.

When his breath and his senses had returned to him, Fili settled himself comfortably spooned around her and placed a kiss into her hair.

“My jewel. My perfect gemstone. Why are you so perfect?”  
Katla chuckled and snuggled closer to him. “I am surely not perfect.”  
“You are perfect.” Fili closed his arms tighter around her.   
“Perfect for you, maybe.” Katla closed her eyes and Fili chuckled into her hair.  
“That’s all that matters, my love.”


	6. Family Ties

When Fili returned from the forge one evening, he was met by a very worried Katla and his equally worried mother.

“Is Frerin not with you?” Katla asked.   
Fili frowned. “No. I haven’t seen him all day, not in the throne hall and not in the forge. Why?”  
Dís and Katla exchanged a worried glance.   
“He said he was going down to the forges to watch you,” Dís said. “That was after lunch.”  
Fili shook his head again, now equally worried. “No, he was never down there. If he had been, someone would have seen him and brought him to me, or at least told me of it.”

After a moment where all three of them looked at each other, they left the royal quarters in unspoken agreement to organize a search. Especially further down in the mountain there were a lot of unused tunnels that had been dug for prospecting, and it was all too easy to lose one’s bearings down there.

Dozens of people equipped with lamps then began to comb through the mountain, but even after a whole night of searching, they had found no trace of the boy.

Fili decided not to partake in the searching anymore and stayed at Katla’s side instead; she was so worried she was close to panic and Fili meant to give her what comfort he could. The truth was he was as worried and afraid as she was, but he kept those feelings well hidden in order to offer her comfort and support.

The only bit of news they got that evening was that the boy had gone off together with his two friends, Aín and Aki, who were Oín’s grandsons. Some years older than Frerin they occasionally harassed him to tears, but equally often took him under their wings to play older brothers and show and teach him all sorts of things.

Regarding their trip to the forge the two boys, scared out of their wits by being summoned by the king, they only stammered they had taken the lad down to the forges and couldn’t resist nosing around the empty tunnels where they had lost him. 

“That’s a bit of information we could have used immediately after it happened,” Fili growled. “Why did you not come to me or his mother with this?”  
The boys shrunk back and dug their feet into the floor.   
“We didn’t dare...” Aki finally ventured. “We thought we’d be blamed.”  
“Well I blame you now!” Fili got up. “He’s been out there a whole night and day all alone, and that he’s in the lower tunnels would have been helpful in narrowing down the search. He’d be found by now!”

The boys just hung their heads, but Fili was far too distressed to be dealing with them at that point. The lower tunnels were a maze, and a cold and dark one at that. His thoughts refused to stop producing terrible images of his son down there, freezing, alone and crying, hungry, thirsty and maybe even injured. 

The night shift of the searchers were already underway, and all Fili could do was sent a few messengers around to spread the word that the search should concentrate on the maze of old prospecting tunnels.  
No longer able to sit and wait, both he and Katla now joined the search as well, but with morning, no one had found even a trace of the young prince.

Katla was close to collapsing at that point, and she could no longer stop her tears. Two days and two nights had passed, and no one wanted to admit it, but the chances of finding the boy alive were dwindling rapidly by now.

**x-x-x**

Thorin had joined the search from the beginning, and he had given himself no rest apart from the absolutely bare minimum that his body demanded. He had simply taken some supplies and a blanket with him and didn’t bother with returning to his quarters when time was such an essential factor. 

To avoid losing his bearings himself he marked the way he took, sketching a rune at every crossroad with a piece of charcoal. He had lost his sense of day and night by now, but that mattered little as he wasted no time on sleeping more than necessary to keep his body functioning. 

He, too, knew how dangerous these old prospecting tunnels were, he knew it all too well. He had gotten lost down here himself as a boy once, and he could remember the feeling of terror at being trapped down there alone in the dark after his torch had burned down.   
Not only were these tunnels small and unlit, but they also featured vertical tunnels and holes where the prospectors had dug downwards in an attempt to find those veins of precious metals. If Frerin had fallen down one of those tunnels, there was little hope for the boy, but Thorin refused to give up. 

Having reached a crossroad of tunnels the runes told him he had been here before, and there was only one direction he had not yet taken. After marking his way he set off into the darkness again, to realise that the tunnel he had entered featured a lot of those vertical prospecting holes, their rims crumbling and treacherous. He carefully gave them a wide berth. After the next bend he had to duck his head as the tunnel narrowed down, and it was then that he heard it: A thin, pitiful whimpering from some distance before him. 

He hurried as fast as he could towards the sound, to find himself looking at a round hole with a broken rim. 

Thorin carefully lowered himself down and held his lamp over the hole. “Frerin?” He could see nothing, the hole had to be at least two yards deep.  
The whining stopped. “ _Adad?_ ” The voice was so thin and fearful that it almost broke Thorin’s heart.   
“No, it’s me, Thorin. Hold on, lad, I’ll get you out of there.”

He shrugged off his pack and produced a rope, a hammer and a solid earth bolt which he drove into the stone, a good distance away from the hole, with a few swift strokes of the hammer, thanking Mahal in his thoughts that he had remembered the holes and had come prepared. He didn’t want to imagine how the lad would have felt if who he thought was his rescuer had to vanish again to fetch the right equipment.

After having secured the rope to the bolt Thorin took hold of the rope, gave it an experimental tug and cautiously lowered himself over the rim and into the hole. It was a bit deeper than the two yards, almost three, and it narrowed down as well. When he had reached the ground he could touch the walls beside him without even fully stretching his arms.

His back pressed against the wall and hunched over his arms pressed against his chest, Frerin huddled at the bottom of the hole and only slowly lifted his head. His bright, blue eyes were dull with fear and doubtlessly with hunger and thirst as well.   
“My arm hurts,” he whispered.  
“Let me have a look,” Thorin replied as gently as he could and knelt down beside the boy. Frerin straightened his upper body and Thorin could see that he was cradling his left arm in his right, the forearm cleanly broken. 

Wordlessly Thorin picked the boy up in his arms, slung the rope around his midriff to tie Frerin to his own body and slowly, mindful of Frerin’s injury, climbed out of the hole again. Once he had freed the boy from the rope, he sat down before him to see what the damage was. 

“Will I lose the arm?” Frerin asked fearfully, sounding like a warrior after a battle, calm and composed, but his childish voice was trembling.  
“No, you won’t.” Thorin carefully took Frerin’s left hand. “I can make it straight again, but you will have to be very brave because it will hurt. Can you do that?”  
Frerin wiped his right hand across his nose and nodded, eyes wide with panic.

Thorin was by no means a healer, but his experience on battlefields had taught him a lot about treating minor injuries and he was quite capable of setting a clean and simple break.   
“On three,” he said gently, and of course, pulled the bone straight on the count of two. Frerin shrieked in pain and erupted in tears, and Thorin immediately gathered him into his arms. 

Despite all his own warm clothing Thorin couldn’t help but notice how cold the boy was. He held him tight, closing both arms around him, and waited until Frerin had calmed down again.   
“There now, little warrior. It’s over, and your arm looks fine again.”  
Frerin sniffled and dared to look at his arm, and upon realising it was indeed straight again, he buried his face into Thorin’s fur collar. 

“Thank you, M-Master Oakensh-shield...”  
It was what most people in the mountain called Thorin; and it was only then that Thorin realised how little he had been around the boy to be addressed respectfully like a stranger. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

“We’re kin, Frerin. You don’t have to call me that.”  
Frerin peeled his face out of Thorin’s collar. “Not?”  
“No. Your father is my sister-son. Call me Thorin.”  
“ _Adad_ is what?” Frerin’s face, pale, wet with tears and smudged with dirt, scrunched up in incomprehension.  
“I am his uncle.” Thorin brushed a few strands of dirty, golden hair out of Frerin’s face and was instantly reminded of how many times he had done so with the boy’s father when Fili had been little and in need of comforting.

Frerin pondered this information for a while, still sniffling and not quite done with the shock and pain of having his arm set straight. “So you are Uncle Thorin?”  
Those achingly familiar blue eyes looked up at him like a beacon from a past almost forgotten and Thorin felt a small lump in his throat as he nodded. “Yes, I am Uncle Thorin.”

And Frerin, the brave little boy, gave him a smile as wide as was possible for one in his sorry state and snuggled into Thorin’s embrace again. Thorin closed his arms around the small body and buried his face in the golden hair. 

“I’m hungry,” Frerin muttered into Thorin’s fur collar.  
Thorin released him from the embrace with a chuckle. “Let us see to your arm first, so the bones stay where they are.” He had a few bandages in his pack, and these he wrapped around Frerin’s arm until it was twice as thick. Then he took one of his own vambraces and carefully buckled it around the thickly padded arm. “That should do the trick until the healers can do something better.”

Frerin wiped a little snot from his nose with the back of his other hand and inspected the improvised construct, but his arm was quite forgotten when Thorin produced a water bottle and a little bread and cheese from his pack. Frerin devoured the food in the blink of an eye and emptied the water bottle as well. 

“More?” He blinked up at Thorin.  
“I’m sorry, that was all I had left. But I’m sure your mother will stuff you with all sorts of titbits when she gets you back. She and your father were worried sick about you.”  
Frerin dropped his head. “I couldn’t find back.”

“Why did you come here in the first place?” Thorin began to gather his things together in his pack.  
The boy looked up again with a frown. “Me and Aki and Aín we went down here, because I said I wanted to go see Adad in the forge and they said they knew the way. And then they said we should see the dark tunnels. And then they said I was too small and too scared to go there. But I am not scared!”  
Thorin frowned as well. “What happened then?”  
“We went down the tunnels. And...” He looked down and threaded his fingers. “I was scared.” Then his head flew up again in defiance. “But only a little bit!”  
“Of course.” Thorin kept a straight face. “These tunnels are dark enough to scare most people. But how did you end up in that hole?”

“I fell in.” Frerin looked at Thorin as if the latter was a half-wit.  
“I gathered as much,” Thorin replied drily. “I meant how did you end up here all alone?”

Frerin swallowed. “They said I wouldn’t dare to go into a tunnel alone. Ten steps, they said, without a light. I did!” He paused and shuddered. “But then they were g-gone. I could hear them laugh, but they never came back. And I tried...” He wiped his eyes, but the tears kept coming back. “And then I tried... to find my way b-back... but it was so d-dark... and I couldn’t... it was so dark and no one was there and I fell into that hole and...” His small body was suddenly wrecked by sobs.

Thorin hurried to his side and swept him up into his arms. “It’ll be all right, lad. Stop your tears, little warrior, I’m here now and I will bring you home.”  
Frerin held on to him with all the strength in his undamaged arm, but the tears didn’t stop.  
“I’m not a w-warrior...” He stammered out between sobs. “I was... s-so scared and I cried and n-no warrior is scared...”

“Believe me, my boy.” Thorin cradled the boy in his arms. “Warriors are scared, too. Being a warrior is not about not being scared. It’s about learning how to be brave. You can’t be brave without being scared.”  
Frerin looked up again, eyes full of tears and of desperate longing to believe Thorin’s words. “But I thought warriors aren’t scared....  
“They are.” Thorin brushed a few strands of hair from Frerin’s face again. “They learn how to be stronger than fear. There’s no shame in being afraid, Frerin. There is only shame in letting that fear rule you and dictate your actions.”  
After a moment, Frerin nodded and looked up at Thorin again. “I want to be brave like you and Adad.”  
“I think you are very brave already. But you have a good long while yet to learn how to be a warrior.”

After Thorin had put on his pack he wrapped Frerin into his fur-lined cloak and gathered him up into his arms. Following his marks, he made his way back towards the more frequented tunnels and from there, upstairs into the inhabited part of Erebor.

Finally safe and warm and fed, Frerin was about to fall asleep, rocked by Thorin’s steady steps, but on the verge of drifting away, Frerin’s sleepy, tired voice came muffled out of Thorin’s cloak.

“Uncle Thorin?”  
“Yes, my boy?”  
“Do you really think I’m brave?”  
“Very brave for someone so young in years.”

Thorin smiled wistfully as he rounded a corner, and heard the voice again.

“Uncle Thorin?”  
“Yes, my lad?”  
“Do you like me?”  
“I do, my boy. Very much so. Why?”  
“Because I like you too.” A small and heartfelt kiss was placed on the side of Thorin’s neck as a small arm was wrapped around it. 

Thorin had managed to blink away the moisture in his eyes before he reached the upper levels.


	7. Apple, tree and hangdog

The sounds ofthe battle began to scrape at Katla’s nerves a bit as the combatants zealously engaged each other and the fight got a little out of hand.

“I will end the line of Durin!” A low, dangerous growl.  
“The Line of Durin shall not be easily broken, you Gundabad Filth!”  
Katla adjusted herself in her chair. “Can you two please keep it down?”

Both Kili and Frerin looked up at her.

“But Amad,” Frerin protested. “I can’t let the Gundabad filth...”  
“You could maybe battle the pale orc a little less...ferociously?”  
“But Amad... it wouldn’t be a war then!”  
“I know.” Katla gave Kili a glance of exasperation. “But does the battle have to take place exactly here, in our hearth chamber?”

Kili and Frerin exchanged a look. 

“Cakes?” Kili ventured.  
Frerin grinned. “Cakes!”

Kili swept his nephew up and carried the giggling boy under his arm like a sack while ruffling the blond unruly hair. “We find us something to eat.”  
“Bye bye, Amad!”

Katla shook her head as the door fell shut behind them and yet smiled to herself. Sometimes it seemed to her as if Kili took every chance to pretend he wasn’t grown up yet, despite the fact that he stood at his king’s side as a fierce and silent warrior whenever needed. To Katla, Kili was a bit of a conundrum. 

She was still smiling to herself as she heaved herself out of the chair upon realising she could use some food as well. Just like the last time she seemed to be always hungry, and while the large royal kitchen was technically no place for the queen, she loved it there in the warm and busy atmosphere created by Bombur and his wife. 

Digging her fist into the small of her always aching back she headed for the door and went down the hallways for the kitchen.

Oddní greeted Katla with her usual hearty warmth, offering her a chair and a footstool and Katla sat, mindful of her protruding belly, and let the matron of the kitchen fuss over her.

“Not long now, I’d say,” Oddni remarked as she brought tea and cakes for Katla and assessed her belly.  
“I do hope so,” Katla gave back with a chuckle. “I haven’t seen my feet in a while.”  
Oddni pulled a stool over and sat down with a mug of tea herself. “Last weeks are always the worst,” she remarked. “But you know that, aye? Not your first time after all.”

Katla smiled and took a sip of tea. If she was honest with herself she loved the kitchen not only because of the warm atmosphere but also because Oddni treated her like another woman and not like a queen. 

“I had quite an easy time with Frerin,” Katla replied. “I can’t remember my back hurting so much.”  
Oddni shrugged. “It’s always the same and still every time it’s different. What about the birth? That an easy time?”  
“No,” Katla said slowly and stared into her cup. “It was terrible, I thought I’d burst. He was stuck for a while and I honestly thought I was going to die along with him.”  
The cook placed her large and warm hand around Katla’s. “But you didn’t. You just rest yourself. Second time around it’s easier.”  
Katla looked up with a small smile. “You would know.”

Oddni laughed; a deep and heart-warming sound. Bombur looked up from the huge kettle he was stirring in and winked at her.

“Oh aye, I do.” Oddni took a sip of tea, the creases around her eyes deepening. “With the last one the midwife almost didn’t make it in time.”  
“Sounds promising,” Katla gave back. “I could well do without being in labour again for a night and the better part of a day.”  
“No doubt.”Oddni looked at Katla’s heaving belly again, the inhabitant momentarily shifting turning as if the talk about being born made them uncomfortable. “But promise me you don’t do it in my kitchen, aye?”

The look she gave her made Katla laugh and ease her anxiety. She leaned back in her chair and observed the kitchen workers going about their business in Bombur’s and Oddni’s well organized chaos. The small cinnamon cakes on her plate were delicious and Katla’s favourite, and she spent a pleasant hour chatting with Oddni about women’s matters before she headed back to the King’s quarters. 

On the way, she could hear Dís voice from around the corner and entered the royal hall to find her scolding two figures with hanging heads and dirty clothes, one tall and dark haired, the other small and blonde. 

“I cannot believe I am doing this,” Dís said sternly as Katla stepped to her side. 

Katla raised her eyebrows as Frerin looked up at her contritely. “It was an accident, Amad.” His trousers were ripped at the seams down his left thigh.  
Katla moved her eyes to Kili. “It was an accident,” he defended himself and his nephew. “We were just sitting in the oak tree with our cinnamon cakes and then I spotted the deer and Frerin wanted to look, and then we were a bit hasty in climbing down again.”  
“And why exactly were you in a tree for eating cakes?” Katla crossed her arms and was hard pressed not to burst out laughing.  
“Uncle Kili was teaching me how to climb a tree!”

Katla and Dís exchanged a look

“Someone has to!” Kili dusted some grass off his knees.  
“And why is climbing trees a necessary skill for a future King, Kili?”  
“It’s not.” Kili gave his mother a challenging stare. “But it’s useful for a boy. He doesn’t get much out of this mountain.”  
“Just because you grew up in the treetops doesn’t mean Frerin should, as well!”

“But _Amad_...” Kili protested, while simultaneously, Frerin said: “But _Sigin Amad_...”

Dís rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms and looked at Katla again who had given up not trying to laugh. “No offence my queen, but are you sure about the paternity of your son?”  
Katla’s belly shook as she laughed. “Yes, I am sure Kili didn’t have any part in it.”  
“I couldn’t have guessed,” Dís gave back drily. 

Now it was Kili‘s and Frerin’s turn to exchange a look. 

“Uncle Kili?”  
“Yes?”  
“We’re in trouble, right?”  
Kili looked back and forth between his mother and sister-in-law, the former sternly glaring at them, the latter laughing so hard she had to lean on Dís for support. “The odds are still out, I guess.”

Frerin nodded earnestly and straightened up. “I’m sorry, _Sigin Amad_. Next time I shall take better care of my clothes.”  
“Next time?” Dís raised her eyebrows.  
“Next time we’re out eating cakes,” Kili interjected hastily.  
“But I liked eating cakes up there with you, uncle!”  
Kili leaned towards his nephew. “I don’t think our mothers approve,” he muttered.

Katla could hardly stop laughing. “Frerin,” she said a little breathlessly. “Go change and wash up before dinner.”  
“Yes, _Amad_!” Glad for his chance to escape, Frerin shot past her and vanished into their quarters.

Dís pinched the bridge of her nose. “I swear Kili sometimes I think you haven’t aged a day since you turned fifteen.”  
Kili shifted from one foot to the other with his eyebrows drawn together. “ _Amad_...”  
“Kili.” Dís stepped towards him with a heavy sigh. “I know you don’t particularly like being a prince for real...”  
“I never said that!”  
“No, but you act like it.” She brushed a few crumbs off the front of his shirt. “Don’t you think a future king needs a better role model than this?”

Kili crossed his arms. “He’s got his father for that,” he said sternly. “I am just making sure no one forgets he’s a boy as well as a future king. Do you think I liked watching my brother being turned into a tiny adult way before it was time? We all know where that almost got him!”  
“Kili...” Dís swallowed. “You don’t...”  
“I couldn’t help Fili back then but I sure will...”

“Kili,” Katla interrupted him gently. “No one will do to Frerin what Thorin did to your brother. I am sure Fili won’t forget what happened but if he does, rest assured that neither me nor your mother will stand idly by.”  
“Not again, Kili.” The sadness in Dís’s eyes and voice made Kili’s angry frown disappear. “Trust me.”  
Kili looked back and forth between the two women and finally shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Of course you won’t.”

For a moment, the three of them stood in silence before Dís closed her hands around Kili’s shoulders with a sigh. “Just promise me you won’t go and steal any apples.”  
A faint blush appeared on Kili’s cheeks as he hastily shot a nervous glance at Katla who pressed her lips tightly together. “Of course not, _Amad_. There are some things even I do only once.”  
Dís smile softened and she picked up a crumb from Kili’s collar and popped it between his lips with her forefinger. “Go wash up and change before dinner.”  
“Yes, _Amad_ ,” Kili gave back, the blush deepening as he spun around. 

“Kili?” Katla called out.  
Kili stopped and looked over his shoulder.  
“Come by after dinner. The outcome of the battle has yet to be determined.”  
Kili’s smile returned and he winked at her before vanishing into his quarters.

Dís turned towards Katla. 

“I think Frerin is lucky to have an uncle who is willing to be also his brother.”  
Dís chuckled softly. “Is it just me or did Fili really grow up way too fast while Kili did so too slowly?”  
“I don’t know about too slowly,” Katla gave back. “But I am sure Fili missed out on a lot of his childhood.”  
“He did.” Dís sighed heavily. “But Kili was right. Fili had too heavy a load to bear from too young an age.”  
“But we all know it won’t happen to Frerin.”  
“We better make sure it doesn’t. His bright mood and happy spirit remind me all too painfully of how Fili used to be before I allowed Thorin to train him as his heir.”

Katla closed her arms around Dís. “Please do not be too hard on yourself, Mother Dís. I’m sure Fili would say the same. There is nothing we can do about the past but to learn for the future.”  
Dís returned the embrace, made somewhat difficult by Katla’s belly. 

****

x-x-x

Kili and Frerin picked up on their battle where they had left it the afternoon and Fili watched them with unmasked amusement, smiling around his pipe as he sat down in the chair opposite Katla. 

The wooden figures had been a present of Bofur and Bifur, lovingly carved and painted, a whole three dozen dwarven warriors with various weapons and as many orc foot soldiers and a few mounted on wargs. The pale orc on his white warg stood out in size and in detail, as well as the figures of the dwarven king and his second in command that bore a striking resemblance to the current holder of the throne and his brother.

“You will all die!” The pale orc threatened with a deep, growling voice.  
Frerin positioned the King in front of the lines and did his best to lower his voice. “You stand no chance against the line of Durin, you Gundabad filth!”

Katla and Fili exchanged a look of amusement, but then Fili frowned, licked his lips and handed Katla his pipe before he rose only to kneel down beside his son.

“Wait just a moment with your attack, my boy,” Fili said. “With a battle order like that you stand little chance against the Gundabad army.”  
Kili frowned and looked up at Katla who frowned as well.  
“Look.” Fili rearranged a few dwarves. “If the orcs come from here they can flank the dwarves and get behind their lines. “He clarified his words with moving the warg riders. “But if you position the shield wall like this...” A few quick adjustments of the dwarven lines. “... and this, then the warg riders have to attack from here.” Fili moved the wargs and indicated towards the axe men. “And they will most likely get trapped between the shield wall and the axe men.”

Frerin stared at the figures with widening eyes. “And...” His tongue stuck out as he moved the crossbow battalion. “These should be here, aye? So they won’t shoot at the other dwarves.”  
“Exactly.” Fili took the king and placed him behind the first line. “And as long as the battle outcome is unclear, the King should not lead the charges. He needs to command the forces to make sure none of his troops get caught between the enemy lines but that exactly that is going to happen with the enemy’s troops.” Fili pointed at the pale orc who was standing well behind his lines. “It’s not cowardice, you know. It’s commandership.”

Frerin nodded, tongue still sticking out. Kili exchanged a look with his brother and Fili winked at him. Then he took the figure of the king and his second in command. “And once the warg riders have been annihilated,” he said. “We charge.”  
Frerin grinned up at his father with shining eyes. “Yes, my King!”

Breaking the enemy ranks with deafening war cries the King and his dwarven warriors advanced on the pale orc who was overcome and killed within a matter of minutes. 

Katla repositioned her feet on the footstool and shook her head with a smile. That particular lesson in warfare was one Frerin would most likely not forget again, as opposed as if Fili had tried to trap him in a study and draw lines on a piece of parchment. 

“I am Durin’s Bane summoned by Azog the Defiler!” Kili suddenly roared while attacking Fili with outstretched arms. Fili was so surprised that he went down under his brother and both of them burst out laughing. Frerin, however, hastened to his father’s rescue and within moments the two had pinned Kili under them, all three of them giggling like half-wits. 

“Help!” Kili gasped. “Katla!”  
“Oh, am I part of the game?”  
“Yes!” Frerin’s head, hair tousled and sticking out into all directions, appeared out of the heap of tangled limbs. “You are a Valar and end the curse of Durin’s Bane!”  
Katla laughed and heaved herself out of the chair. “Begone, foul creature!” She intoned. “And now let us head for the Halls of Melkor to celebrate your victory!” She walked over to the chest of drawers next to the door and picked up the bowl she had placed there earlier “Sugar almonds, anyone?”

Fight forgotten as Katla approached them with the bowl they hastily untangled themselves and sat down while Katla cumbersomely lowered herself down to join them. She leaned her back against Fili’s chest with a heavy sigh as Frerin climbed into Kili’s lap. 

“Kee?” Fili chuckled as he took another almond.  
“What?” Kili grinned.  
“You’ve got sugar in your beard.”  
Kili bushed, but joined the general laughter.


	8. A Dwarf should have a Brother

Katla awoke to the, by now, familiar ache of false labour in her lower belly. She adjusted her position and closed her eyes again, but the pain returned. A small knot forming in her stomach, she waited, and sure enough, after some time, it came back. Katla took a deep breath and began to watch for a pattern. Sure enough, the pains were weak, but appearing more or less regular now. 

She remained in bed however, the gaps between the contractions were still long and the contractions themselves hardly more than a stitch in her lower belly. Beside her Fili was still fast asleep with a gentle snore, and the thought that he would have another child before the next sunrise made Katla glow with nervous excitement. 

It was when she heard the first sounds of servants out and about outside that she decided to wake Fili only to find him turn around and look at her. Her heart beat a little faster, despite the time she had now slept at his side she had not gotten used to this; this sleepy, drowsy look of utter contentment when he woke up beside her and smiled. 

“Fili?”  
“What is it, my gemstone?” His voice was still husky from sleep.  
“Could you charge a servant to summon the midwife? I am going into labour.”  
Fili shot out of the bed as if stung by a hornet and was at the bedroom door within a heartbeat.

“Fili!”  
He stopped dead in his tracks and shot her a nervous look.  
Katla chuckled. “One, it’s barely started. Two, you should put some clothes on.”  
Fili looked down at himself and flashed her a dimpled grin. “I guess the serving maid could swoon upon encountering her king in naught but his skin,” he said and went back to the bed to put on his pants and trousers. “Are you sure you are all right?”  
Katla chuckled. “Yes, I am. It’s going to be a few hours at least before things start for real.”  
Fili nodded, still looking nervous, but soothed by Katla’s calmness. 

The midwife arrived half an hour later and as she asked Katla questions about her last birth she prepared the bedroom; hanging a large kettle with water in the fireplace to warm, readying stacks of cloths and a large bucket to dispose of them. She and Dís manoeuvred Katla, who was by now moaning under each contraction, back into the bedroom and shut the door behind them. 

Frerin looked nervously at his father and two uncles. “Is _Amad_ hurting so much she must go to bed?”  
“Having a baby is hard work,” Fili said, slightly nervous. “And it’s best we leave the womenfolk to it.”  
Frerin wasn’t convinced. “But I don’t want _Amad_ to hurt!”  
“There’s no help for it,” Thorin gave back. “You know that warriors must fight their battles, Frerin.”  
This time the boy nodded, but looked more confused than before.  
“Well, our women have to fight their battles as well,” Thorin continued. “And having a child is as exhausting and painful as any battle ever fought with weapons.”  
“ _Amad_ is a warrior then?” Frerin asked, eyes growing wide.  
“In a way,” Thorin said. “But she is sure as strong and brave as any warrior. Every woman is, Frerin, and therefore they deserve our respect and love and protection. Because it is through their strength and their pain that they give us our children.”

Frerin swallowed hard and looked at the bedroom door again. He was silent for a very long time. “But we can’t help her like warriors do, can we?”  
“No.” Thorin closed his hand around the boy’s shoulder. “We can’t.”

Kili went down beside his nephew with a wistful smile, lost in a memory that none of the others were privy to. “No, we can’t fight her battle for her. But we can make sure she knows she is not fighting alone.”  
Frerin looked at Kili. “Can I go in and tell her that?”  
“I don’t know,” Kili gave back. “It seems your grandmother and the midwife don’t want us in there.”  
Fili reached out and took Frerin’s hand. “I am sure though that they will allow you to give your mother a few words of encouragement.”

Frerin nodded and took his father’s hand as Kili straightened up again. He stood beside Thorin and both of them watched as Fili knocked at the bedroom door.

Dís popped her head out. “What is it?”  
“Can I see _Amad_?” Frerin asked.  
Dís’s expression softened. “No, _givashel_. It’s best if you...”  
“Please?” Frerin tugged at her dress. “I just want to tell her that we are here with her!”

Dís sighed, and after exchanging a look with her son, she stepped aside. Frerin shot into the room and found his mother leaning against a wall, wearing a loose robe and her hair tied back in a single braid.

“ _Amad_?”  
Katla looked down at him with a smile. Her temples were moist and her face a little flushed. “What is it, my little warrior?”  
“Uncle Thorin said that you fight a battle.”  
Katla chuckled under her breath while Dís and the midwife exchanged a soft look. “I guess you could put it that way.”  
“And uncle Kili said we can’t fight your battle, but we can let you know you are not fighting alone.” His childish gravity touched everyone’s heart, and Katla smoothed his hair back with a smile. “Thank you, my love.”

“ _Amad_?”  
“Yes?”  
“Can I stay so you’re not alone?”  
Katla shook her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, my love. You are too young to witness this kind of a battle.”  
Frerin looked unhappily at his feet. “But I don’t’ want you to fight alone. Can _Adad_ stay?”  
Katla looked up again and met Fili’s eyes. “It’s not really customary for men to be present when a woman gives birth.”  
Fili met her gaze, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “I shall stay or leave at your orders, my queen.”  
Katla looked down at her son again, then bowed over him to press a kiss onto Frerin’s forehead. “Go to your uncles, my love. Your adad will stay with me.”

Frerin seemed not completely satisfied, but after kissing her belly, he left the bedroom again. He found his uncles seated at the hearth and unceremoniously crawled into Kili’s lap before complaining about never being allowed anything ever.

Kili ruffled his hair with a chuckle. “Trust me, _uzagh-im_ , sometimes it is better that way.”

To distract the boy Kili began feeding him sugar almonds while Thorin told him stories of battles and wars, a topic that captured Frerin’s whole attention. 

Fili had, in the meantime, shed his tunic in the warmth of the well-heated bedroom and was now holding Katla’s arm to walk her back and forth beside the bed between contractions and holding on to both her hands to support her weight when the contractions came. 

“You really should leave soon,” the midwife said to him when the pauses between the contractions shortened and Katla’s grunts of discomfort turned into moans of pain.  
“I stay as long as she needs me,” Fili gave back and rubbed his hands down Katla’s back as she leaned her head against his chest, panting after the last contraction.  
“This is unheard of,” the old midwife muttered. “This is no place for manfolk!”

“Maybe not. As little as a woman’s place is on the battlefield.” Fili looked up to meet his mother’s eyes. “But we all know the stories from the times of yore and the warriors who fought alongside their wives in Durin’s time.”  
“We are not living in Durin’s time,” the midwife said testily.  
“Are we not?” A smirk appeared on Fili’s face. “Am I not of Durin’s blood as well? My woman wants me at her side during her battle. Who am I to deny her?”  
Dís made no effort to hide how pleased she was at her son’s words. “She draws strength and comfort from his presence, Alda. Why should we take that from her?”  
The midwife shook her head. “It’s unheard of.”  
“So was the notion the queen’s throne standing beside the king’s.”

The midwife threw her hands into the air and shook her head, but there was a small smile on her face. “Nothing stays as it was, aye? But I’m not comfortable with him being here. No man in his right mind can stand to see his woman suffer from pain without being able to help her.” She looked at Fili. “As long as you keep calm and out of our way, stay. But if we say you need to go, you go.”  
“Agreed.”

Katla leaned against Fili with a sigh. “Thank you,” she whispered.  
“I would never leave you if you asked me to stay, and if Durin’s Bane himself stood in my way.”  
Katla smiled into the folds of his shirt, then the next contraction came. Fili took her weight again as he held on to her hands, and their eyes never left each other’s.

Katla remarked several times that labour was proceeding far more quickly than the last time; by midmorning the gaps between the contractions were so short that she had hardly any time left to recover her breath. She was drenched in sweat by now; and Fili had shed his shirt as well due to the warmth of the room and supporting Katla’s weight as she grasped his hands and leaned against him to deal with the contractions. 

After every contraction Dís sought her son’s eyes, but Fili found himself remain surprisingly calm. He was nervous, of course, and hearing and watching Katla in so much pain cut him to the core of his soul, but she needed and wanted him at her side and that gave him the strength to deal with it; just like fighting a battle. It had to be done, and he would not let her fight alone.

“It’s going fast now,” the midwife remarked somewhat later. “It’s going to be well before sunrise, my queen.”  
“I am not complaining,” Katla gasped, leaning with her back against Fili’s chest and holding on to his hands. Then the next contraction came and Fili braced himself against her weight on his arms as the pain forced her almost to her knees. The heavy moan of pain suddenly pitched into a scream as something in Katla gave; Fili could hear it and went white while the two other women nodded towards each other saw it as her belly suddenly shifted and settled.

“That was it,” the midwife said. “On the bed with her.”  
“What was it?” Fili asked.  
“The babe is down and ready to be born,” the midwife replied. “Help her on the bed.”  
Fili did as he was told and helped Katla to lie down, but as he watched her struggle and rear up during the next contraction he kicked off his boots and climbed into the bed behind her. Supporting her upper body against his he took her hands again which earned him an approving nod from his mother.

“Bear down!” The midwife shoved Katla’s robes up and Fili helped pull it over her head.“Push!”

It was a war cry, all right. Katla pressed her body against Fili’s and gripped his hands so hard that he could hear the bones grind together as she screamed, and he could only grit his teeth and hold on. He could not see anything from where he sat, but according to the midwife the head was visible now. 

Katla was crying now, tears streaming down her face. “Why is it taking so long?”  
“You are doing fine,” Dís said. “It’s almost over.” She made a gesture at her son and Fili nodded.  
“You are doing fine, my love,” he said and pressed his cheek against her moist temple. “You are so strong, you are doing so well, don’t give up. I’m here with you.”

Katla screamed again, then forced herself to grit her teeth and growled and her next scream was one of relief.  
“Stop pushing so hard!” The midwife reached between Katla’s legs. “The head is out, now pant, don’t push! Breathe the baby out!”  
Katla gulped for air and, grinding Fili’s fingers, she panted in low, hoarse gasps of air. 

The midwife yelled at her to keep it up. Dís came hurrying with a soft blanket, and suddenly Katla’s growl turned into a howl of triumph as her belly suddenly flattened. 

“There he is!” The midwife crooned and wrapped something in the blanket. “A boy! Another fine prince for our King!”  
Between gasps of pain and exhaustion and laughter of triumph Katla let go of Fili’s hands to hold out her arms and the midwife put the baby face down onto her breasts. Katla closed her hands around the tiny being and closed her eyes in bliss while Fili felt his world slowly ground to a halt.

He had to lean around Katla to look at the face of his child. His son. The face was wet and crinkled but the eyes were open, looking at him in that intense stare only newborns have in the first few hours after being born. 

Fili was in awe. He had been in awe of the fact that a new life was growing in Katla’s body for the most of her pregnancy, but to be there when it came to a close and to be witness to the beginning of a new life was a gift greater than anything he could have imagined. He was completely overcome with emotion; joy and awe and pride of his strong and beautiful woman; and something else entirely, the indescribable feeling of looking at his newborn son and him meeting his eyes as if he was looking into the core of Fili’s soul.

“My son,” he whispered. Before his inner eyes he saw another face now, that of Frerin who had already been two weeks old when he had first seen him. Katla had given birth to him alone, without anyone being at her side, without anyone to help her, and had raised him alone as well. It was the image of Frerin’s face as Fili had parted with him for what he had believed was for good that pushed him over the edge and with his eyes spilling over he reached out and touched his newborn son’s head. 

Then he closed his eyes and pressed a kiss onto Katls’s cheek. “I am so proud of you, my love. And grateful, grateful that you fought this battle to give me another son, and grateful that I could be at your side. But...” His breath caught and he looked at her again, a tear trickling down his cheek. “I love you, my gemstone. But I...” He broke off, but Katla smiled at him.  
“I know.” Her voice was still a little hoarse. “You have earned your break as much as I have. Just go and tell Frerin he has another brother, and then let your brother and uncle treat you with food and ale. Mahal knows you need it.”  
“And what about you?” He ran a tender forefinger across her cheek.  
“I am being taken care of, my love.”

Fili nodded and got out of the bed, and after a last look at his son he wiped his eyes and left the bedroom. Katla exchanged a soft look with Dís who shook her head with a wistful smile.

Three heads jerked up as Fili left the bedroom. Frerin’s face was stricken and wet with tears, and he jumped down from Kili’s lap to throw himself at his father.

“ _Adad_! _Amad_? How is _Amad_? Do we have a baby?”  
Fili picked him up and hugged him. “Your mother is fine. And so is your brother.”  
Frerin’s eyes went wide and the fearful expression instantly morphed into a grin. “I have a brother?”  
Fili nodded with a smile. “Come, I’ll show you. But...” He placed a finger onto his lips and Frerin copied the gesture with a nod.

Katla looked up and smiled when Fili carried Frerin into the bedroom. He sat down on the bed beside her and Katla opened the blanket to show Frerin the face of his brother.

“He’s tiny!” Frerin reached out and touched the shock of blonde hair. “He’s so tiny!”  
“He will grow.” Fili ran his hand through Frerin’s locks.  
“And I will protect him. Won’t I, _Adad_?”  
“Yes. We all will.” Fili exchanged a soft glance with his wife. “But now we must let them rest.”  
Frerin leaned forward and placed a kiss onto his mother’s cheek. “Later, little brother,” he whispered to the baby.

Back in the hearth chamber, Fili slowly lowered himself into one of the armchairs and settled Frerin onto his lap, closing his arms firmly around him. He had again realised there was so much that had been lost to him when he had failed his family and given them up, and the pain of it returned with a vengeance at that moment. 

Both Thorin and Kili saw that he was fighting his tears with all his strength, and after a short glance at each other, Kili stepped forward and offered his hand to Frerin. “Come, let’s find something to eat and drink. We’re all hungry now, aye?”  
Frerin hopped down from Fili’s lap and followed his uncle out of the door with a happy: “We bring you an ale, _Adad_!”  
Fili smiled and nodded, but the moment the door closed he burst into tears. 

Thorin was at his side in a swift stride, pulled him onto his feet and embraced him fiercely.

“I’m sorry, my lad,” he muttered into Fili’s hair. “I’m so sorry I made you miss out on so much. I wish I could make it up to you, but I fear I can’t. I’m sorry...”  
Fili closed his arms around his uncle and fought for control. “How did you know what I was thinking?”  
Thorin exhaled a soft, toneless chuckle. “After what happened, it surely is no witchcraft to know what you think.”  
“Probably not.”  
Thorin firmly ran a hand down Fili’s back. “My congratulations, _dashatu mudtuê_. Mahal has blessed you with a strong and beautiful wife and two sons.”  
Fili leaned back and looked at Thorin, meeting his eyes with a look of longing. “Do you mean that?”  
“From the bottom of my heart,” Thorin replied and leaned forward to touch Fili’s forehead with his “I should have said it many times before. That I didn’t is and will remain one of the greatest regrets of my life.”

They both reached out and placed their hand on the back of the other’s head and remained like this for a long moment. 

When Kili and Frerin returned with food and ale somewhat later Fili’s grief of what he had lost had once again changed into tears of joy for what he had gained.  
Frerin was delighted to hear that his father had decided upon a name for his brother.

“We name him Felin, after mine and uncle Kili’s father.”  
“Felin?” Frerin grinned broadly. “Frerin and Felin!”  
“Almost as bad as Fili and Kili,” Thorin remarked drily, but with a smile. “It’s good that you have him now, Frerin. A dwarf should have a brother.”

Fili looked at Kili and nodded with a smile. He held out his arms and the two brothers embraced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Dashatu mudtuê_ : Son of my heart


	9. Family Ties, Part II

“And then the white orc saw the King and...”  
“Kili, you scare them,” Katla chuckled.  
“I’m not scared!” Frerin stopped cradling his uncle’s arm and crossed his own. “I want to hear the story!”

Kili flashed Katla an impish grin and adjusted his position in the comfy chair, Frerin on his left knee and Felin cradled in his right arm. The infant looked up at him with the same wide, intense stare that Frerin had.

“So he walked across the battlefield, swathing through the forces of his enemies like wading through water, cutting down brave warriors like reeds...”  
Frerin shook his head with wide eyes.  
“And he reached the King under the Mountain, whose father and grandfather he had slain before to end the line of Durin.” Kili looked back and forth between the two faces, one taut with anxious expectation, and the other just with wide eyes. “But Thorin, King under the Mountain, had no intention of giving the Gundaband filth what he wanted. And the two archenemies engaged in a mighty joust...”  
“What is a joust, Uncle Kili?”  
“A fight between two opponents. So steel flashed and clashed as the battle waged around them like a thunderstorm. The huge orc with his terrible weapon believed himself victorious because the King had led his warriors into battle hours ago and was tiring, but the strength of the Line of Durin is not so easily broken. The King knew that he might not survive this fight, but he knew how he could at least take his nemesis with him.”

“Kili, that story is not fit for children.”  
Kili looked up at Katla and his brother who just smoked his pipe, an amused expression on his face.  
“Katla, my love,” Fili said. “We grew up on tales of the mountain and of battles, we were weaned on stories of blood and war.”  
“Yes, and I’d dare say we turned out just fine,” Kili added.  
Katla threw her hands in the air in a gesture of exasperation and defeat before focussing on her needlework again. Still, a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. 

Kili looked at his brother, receiving a wink, and looked towards the other side of the hearth where his mother, Thorin and Skadi were seated, the two women occupied with winding up yarn from the spinning wheel into balls; Thorin, like his elder nephew, was just smoking his pipe. He raised an eyebrow with a faint smile, but said nothing.

“So the King wanted to take his enemy with him into the grave and let the orc get close, too close, but as the blade drew the King’s blood he swung his own blade in a mighty arc, cutting flesh, sinew and bone...  
“Kili!”  
“...almost beheading the foul creature...” Kili continued, meeting Katla’s eyes with an expression that suggested he would have stuck his tongue at her had he not been so busy telling the tale, and behind her, Fili emitted a hearty snort that shot two columns of smoke through his nostrils.

“And thus Azog and the King both fell, but Durin’s Line was not so easily broken. As badly wounded as the King was, his warriors gathered round and shielded him from further harm until the battle was won. His wounds kept him abed for a long time, but he reclaimed the mountain from whence the Dragon had forced him and his people so long ago.”

Frerin was still staring at Kili, so enraptured in the tale that he hardly realised it had ended.  
Kili smiled down at him in his usual, impish way. “But then the King thought it would be nice to just lay back and put his feet up so he gave the crown to your father instead to be able to smoke his pipe in peace”, he whispered.  
“I heard that,” Thorin muttered back from his seat by the hearth. 

Frerin hopped down from Kili’s lap and hurried towards him. “Uncle Thorin?”  
“Yes, my lad?”  
“Did you really cut off Azog’s filthy head?”  
Thorin cocked an eyebrow and looked at Kili who was completely engrossed in his other nephew who was blowing spit bubbles at him. “I did,” the former King under the Mountain replied. “And it is true I almost died. But we from the Line of Durin are strong and meant to endure.”

Frerin looked up at him, biting his lower lip. “Am I of the Line of Durin, too?”  
“Of course you are, lad.” Thorin put his pipe down and gestured at the boy to follow him. He found some parchment, ink and quill and sat down at the table. Frerin unceremoniously crawled onto his lap and after blinking in surprise Thorin relaxed, put one arm around the boy and took the quill with the other.

“Thror was King under the Mountain when the dragon came,” Thorin said as he wrote down Thror’s name. “He was of the Line of Durin, a true Son of Durin.” Everyone thought it was prudent not to tell the boy about the curse and gold sickness just yet. “He had a son named Thrain.” Thorin wrote Thrain’s name under Thor’s and connected them with a line.

“Thrain was my father, and the father of your grandmother Dís.” He wrote those two names down under Thrain’s and hesitated. He looked up, met his sister’s sad eyes, and nodded before adding a third name. “We had a brother who is no longer alive. He died in battle, shortly after Erebor was lost. His name was Frerin.”  
Frerin’s eyes widened almost to the point of no return. “Like me?”  
“Like you. Or rather... you were named after him. In the memory of a great warrior, a good dwarf, and a brother who is still sorely missed.”

Frerin looked up and back and forth between Thorin and his grandmother. It was clear that he understood what had been said, but he still seemed too young to fully grasp the weight of these words, of the pain of losing a brother. But then he looked at Felin and swallowed hard. 

It was hard to watch for all those who surrounded them. Frerin looked at his baby brother, less than half a year old, and his face clouded in pain. And as young as he was in years, it was clear, as he thought of his beloved baby brother not being there anymore all of a sudden, that a tiny little piece of his childish innocence died at that moment. 

“I will always protect you,” Frerin whispered. Then he looked up at Thorin. “Are you still sad?”  
“Yes, my boy. I am, and so is your grandmother. I miss him still, and even though I wanted to protect him at all costs, I failed, and I lost him. All I could do was avenging him. He lives on in our memories however, as all the dead do.”  
Frerin focussed on the paper again with a frown. “Are Thror and Thrain also dead?”  
“They are.”  
The boy’s head shot up. “So you don’t have a father anymore?”  
Thorin shook his head and was more than mildly surprised when Frerin threw his arms around him. “When I have a son, I’ll call him Thrain,” the boy declared firmly when leaning back. “To honour his memory.” He was so earnest in the way he recited Thorin’s own words, only half understanding what he was saying, and it brought more than one tear to the eyes of those around him.

“Thank you, my lad,” Thorin replied, a crack in his voice. He cleared his throat and took the quill again. “So here are the children of Thrain: Thorin, Frerin, and Dís.”  
“ _Sigin’Amad!_ ”  
“Exactly.” And your grandmother married a warrior called Felin.”

This time, when Frerin looked up, his face scrunched up in confusion before lighting up. “Like Felin!”  
“Yes, your brother is named after your grandfather, the warrior who married Dís, daughter of Thrain.” To illustrate his words, Thorin tapped at the names on the parchment before him. “Dís and Felin had two sons.” He wrote two more names, under Dís and Felin. “Fili and Kili.”  
“ _Adad_ and Uncle Kili!”  
“Yes.” Then Thorin wrote Katla’s name beside Fili’s. “And your father married Katla, your mother.” Then he added the final two names. “And Fili and Katla have two sons.” He looked expectantly at Frerin.  
“Frerin and Felin!”

Thorin nodded and pointed at Thror’s name. “There are many more that came before Thror, you will learn all their names in time. They all share the blood of their ancestor, the first of our line, Durin himself. The Line of Durin goes back towards the dawn of time, and it will go on, as even now, after the retaking of Erebor, the Line of Durin has been blessed with yet another generation of strong warriors, true Sons of Durin.”

Frerin stared at the parchment. By the way his facial muscles worked there was clearly something going on behind his eyes, but whatever it was, one could only guess. Until he suddenly burst into tears and all but tore himself away from Thorin to run towards his father. Fili dropped his pipe just in time to catch his son and pull him close. 

“Frerin, _givashel_ , what’s the matter?”  
“I don’t want you to die!” Frerin sobbed into Fili’s shirt. “I don’t want you to die!”  
“Frerin, I am not dying anytime soon,” Fili replied, shocked and deeply worried. He peeled Frerin away from his chest and smoothed the blond curls out of the face that was wet with tears. “What are you...”  
“They all died!” Frerin wiped a hand across his nose. “Uncle Thorin’s _adad_ is dead, and your _adad_ is also dead and I don’t want you do die too, _Adad_! I don’t want you to die!”

Understanding dawned on Fili and he pulled Frerin close again and up into his lap. He closed both arms around the boy and held him, resting his cheek in the blond curls of his son, eyes pinched shut. “I’m not dying, Frerin, I promise.”

In Kili’s arms, Felin began to whine and fuss, as if sensing his brother’s distress. Kili rocked him and crooned to him, but it did little to calm the baby boy. Before he could start to cry Katla got up and took him, settled down again in her own chair and put him to her breast. The whining stopped, but Frerin’s tears were not as easily quenched.  
It took Fili a long time and a lot of firmly spoken reassurances before Frerin would accept that he was not about to lose his father like anyone else seemed to have. 

Dís was wiping her eyes as Frerin finally let go of his father and walked back to the table. He looked at the parchment, then up at Thorin who still hadn’t moved and ruefully looked down at the boy whom he had unwittingly hurt so much. 

Something was still puzzling the boy as he traced the names with his fingers. He wiped his nose one last time before taking a deep breath. "So _Adad_ is married to _Amad_ and _Sigin’Amad_ Dís is married to...”  
“Felin, your _Sigin’Adad_ ,” Dís supplied gently; not bothering to correct the tense.  
“And Uncle Thorin is married to Skadi...”

No one had the heart to correct that either. Thorin finally looked up at Skadi and both their eyes softened upon meeting the other’s gaze.

“So if Uncle Thorin is married to Skadi, is she my aunt then?”

Thorin faltered, mouth half open, and was, to his surprise, rescued by his older nephew.  
“She is,” Fili said with a smile. “Although the correct term would be great-aunt, the same as Thorin is your great-uncle.”  
That was clearly a bit much for the boy as he ignored Fili’s last statement before looking at the chart again. “Hm,” he huffed thoughtfully and looked up. “And Uncle Kili?”  
“What about him?” Thorin asked, a smile tugging at his lips.  
“Who is Uncle Kili married to?”  
“Your uncle Kili is not married at all,” Dís said. “He has not yet found the right woman. But if he marries, then his wife would be your aunt.”

Frerin seemed to be satisfied for the moment, but shortly after that, he began to yawn and was put to bed along with his brother by Katla, her voice carrying back towards the hearth chamber as she sang her sons to sleep. 

Fili tried to catch his brother’s eyes but for some reason, Kili kept staring at his feet and only unfroze when Dís and Skadi, after finishing with the last ball of yarn, began to pour mead and hand it out. 

Kili was his usual, mischievously joking self again and Fili wasn’t sure if he hadn’t imagined the shadow of sadness that had flitted across his brother’s face.

* * *

...to be continued...


	10. Family Ties, Part III

The hour was late and conversations had died down, but no one felt like breaking up the comfort of their small company just yet. Skadi had just poured another round of mead for everyone and settled back down again beside Thorin who was idly toying with the quill. She plucked it out of his fingers and entwined her hand with his. Thorin finally looked up and smiled at her. 

“So I am a great-aunt, all of a sudden?”  
Thorin closed his fingers around hers. “Is that a proposal?” His voice as low and as soft as his smile.  
Skadi shook her head with a gentle chuckle. “I told you that no oath or contract is needed to warrant or legitimate what is between us.”  
“Not even as a gesture, or a symbol, to each other?” Fili ventured cautiously.  
“The only thing it would be is a symbol for everyone else,” Skadi gave back gently. “Nothing we could ever do or say could bring us any closer together.”

Thorin cleared his throat. “Do you think we need it, though?”  
Fili froze, pipe halfway up to his mouth. “What?”  
“I want to know if you think we need this symbol,” Thorin explained. “We are part of your family, of the royal family. Do we need to be legitimate in everyone else’s eyes?”  
“Is that for me to decide?” Fili tilted his head with a frown.  
“You are the king,” Thorin replied simply. “If there is anyone who has the right to do so then it is you.”

Fili brought the pipe up to his mouth again. “That is your personal affair, Thorin. It’s none of my business.”  
“Everything that happens in the royal family is your business,” Thorin gave back. “And it affects everyone else in this mountain, too. I am fully aware that you have avoided the issue for my sake until now.”  
“I have not been...”  
Thorin lifted his eyebrows. “I may not be your King anymore, Fili, but I am still the man who raised you. It is safe to say that I know you too well for that.”  
Fili heaved a heavy sigh. “So yes, I have been turning a blind eye,” he admitted. “I just didn’t...”  
“You didn’t want to delve into something that would end up with you ordering me to do something?”  
“Probably,” Fili replied without meeting his eyes.

“Fili, you do not need to walk on eggshells for our sake,” Skadi said after a moment. “I on my part owe you more than my life and I will gladly acquiesce to any request, or follow any order, as it may be, coming from you.”  
Fili swallowed hard and nodded. “Thank you. You know...” He smiled wryly. “I may have gotten used to being the King, but I very much prefer not to be King when it comes to my own family.”  
“So Fili does not mind or care.” Skadi looked first at Dís, then at Thorin, before meeting his eyes again. “But what does the King think of this matter?”

Tongue darting out between his lips Fili looked down and took a deep, slow breath. “The King...” he finally said, and very reluctantly, “...the King thinks it would be prudent for the royal family to adhere to the old laws of propriety.”

After a moment of silence Dís got up and took the decanter from the table. “If you want to hear the opinion of an old widow who so happens to be the dowager queen then I’d say we should not only do as the king says but do so gladly.” She poured Fili and Katla some more mead, then Kili. “The way I see it we have far too few occasions that justify a celebration.” Then she poured Thorin and Skadi and finally herself some more of the golden liquid. “It doesn’t have to be a royal wedding with all the pomp and circumstance. But maybe having a reminder of the words Fili had for Skadi on the day if his... coronation would not come amiss, either.”

Fili finally looked up again and, after taking a sip of mead, looked up to reluctantly meet Thorin’s eyes. “I refuse to order you around, Thorin. I would rather you just agree with me.”  
“But I do, my lad,” Thorin replied after a soft chuckle. And as usual, him using those two words to address his nephew seemed to put Fili more at ease than any other words could have done. “I was only thinking of myself. Yet looking at it this way I cannot help but agree.”  
Skadi took Thorin’s hand and gave Fili a warm smile. “And I agree with your mother. I shall stand up in front of our people and remind them of the promises you made, and I will do so gladly.”

“Then it is settled,” Fili gave back, visibly relieved. “And I gather I can leave sorting out the particulars to you two and my mother.”  
“Rely on me,” Dís said and rubbed her hands. “It’s been far too long since I could organize a wedding.”

Katla and Fili exchanged a glance and chuckled.

“So, brother of mine,” Fili began and took another breath of his pipe. “What about you, then?”  
Kili stretched out his legs before him. “Oh, I’m sure I’m far better at being an uncle than a father.”  
“I was more thinking about...” Fili took the pipe between his fingers but Kili interrupted him.  
“About matters of the heart, romantic involvement, a gentle hand to hold mine,” Kili grinned broadly. “Just no. There is no one.”  
Fili narrowed his eyes. “No one?”  
This time, Kili frowned. “What are you after, Fili? Do you think I would keep having a woman a secret from you?”  
“No,” Fili said slowly. “But you might keep...”  
“A love interest of mine a secret... and you know what? This is perfectly within my right, brother or not.”

Fili sat back and blinked. “Sorry, Kili, I didn’t mean to... I’m sorry if I hit a sore spot.”  
Kili rolled his eyes. “Can you just let it rest?”  
“I will, I promise.” Fili cleared his throat. “But seeing as we are talking about it now, I’d like to get it over with. I have been approached several times already by dwarves who inquired about possible matches, meaning they were trying to sell their daughters as possible future princesses.”  
Kili gritted his teeth. “And what did you say?”  
“Nothing, of course! Do you think I’d marry you off like...” Fili bit his tongue and the silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable.

“Like I did with you,” Thorin finally said to Fili. “Those were your thoughts, am I right?”  
Fili swallowed hard. “Yes.”

Katla looked up again and felt Dís eyes rest on her. “All that is behind us,” she finally said. “We have talked about this, and there is no need to go back to blaming each other.”  
“No one was blaming anyone,” Fili said in a rough voice. “I may never put what happened completely behind me but I do not blame Thorin anymore.”  
“I will not hold it against you,” Thorin replied. “I wouldn’t even if you did blame me for the rest of your life, for having stolen those years with your One and your son.” He cleared his throat. “Or for poor Ysona’s fate.”  
Kili shifted his legs and took a deep breath of his pipe.  
“If anyone ever had the right to hand blame around it would be her,” Dís said with a sad shake of her head. “But the gentle soul that she was, she never did. I understand that you still bring her flowers every now and then.”

Fili almost dropped his pipe. “What? I didn’t bring her any flowers.”  
Dís’s eyes widened slightly. “I saw them there, on her coffin, as I walked past it the few times I was down there to visit my mother’s grave.”  
“Katla?”  
But Katla shook her head as well. “I didn’t bring her flowers either, although thinking of it now maybe we should have.”

Dís shook her head and once again, picked up the mead. “Well someone is bringing her flowers; and not the expensive ones bought in Dale but wildflowers picked from the meadows.” She poured mead again and sighed. “I thought it was you, Fili, and I can’t imagine anyone else was as close to her as we are. It’s a mystery.”

Fili stretched his legs out before him and exhaled a cloud of smoke. It was when his eyes fell onto his brother again that he realised something was off. Kili’s shoulders were hunched and he stared into the flames of the hearth as if he was forcing himself to. As if he was avoiding everyone else’s eyes. And Fili was sure that no one but himself had noticed.

Kili shifted again in his seat and suddenly looked up when he sensed his brother’s eyes on him. Their gazes met and Kili swallowed and hastily looked away again. 

“Kili?”  
Katla looked up and frowned at her brother-in-law before looking at her husband.  
“Kili?” Dís voice was suddenly trembling.  
“What are you talking about?” Kili sat up straight and brought his pipe to his lips. His voice had an edge to it. “You don’t honestly think I brought her the flowers, do you? Why on earth would I do that?”  
“You... didn’t?” Fili clutched his pipe tighter. 

After a moment of unbearable silence, Kili suddenly sagged in his chair. “Why?” He hammered a fist into his own thigh. “Why did you have to bring that up? You know I could never lie to you!” Then he looked up, his warm eyes suddenly darker than ebony. “Yes, I brought her the flowers! Yes, I picked flowers like a child out on the meadows because I didn’t want to be seen buying them and then not giving them to anyone!”  
“Kili...” Fili whispered, shaking his head, every hair on his body suddenly standing on edge. “Kili, no...”

Kilis voice cracked and his eyes looked like broken glass. “Why do you think I was so quick to agree to go with her brother? Why do you think? I wanted to get away from her and I wanted to kill the one who was intent on harming her! And you thought Mahal cursed you for having been forced away from the woman you love? Well he cursed me too because I was in love with my brother’s wife!”

Fili was frozen, cold inside and out, and he could not stop the tears that burned in his eyes. He shook his head in fruitless denial, and he could hear Katla’s breathing hitch as she tried to suppress a sob.  
“Kili, why...”  
“You don’t honestly mean to ask you why I kept this a secret?” Kili wiped a hand down his face. “To add that to everything else you had to bear? It was pointless, utterly pointless, as she was married to you and in love with you and I didn’t even exist in her world other than someone related to you! And I would still rather have taken this with me to my grave if it hadn’t been forced out of me! And only because I could never lie to my brother!”

Kili finally shot up from his seat and was halfway across the room before Fili had caught up with him. He took his younger brother’s arm, thus forcing him to halt and turn around to face him. For a long, painful moment the two brothers looked at each other before Fili threw his arms around Kili and pulled him close.

Kili’s last strength reserves finally ran dry and he burst into tears in his brother’s arms. 

“I’m so sorry brother,” Fili whispered into Kili’s hair. “I’m so sorry, and I know I couldn’t have done a thing to ease your pain. Just... just let me do what you did for me back then. Let me be there for you, please.”  
“I tried to hate you,” Kili whispered hoarsely. “I tried to hate you but I couldn’t. I couldn’t!”  
Fili ran a hand through the dark, unruly strands of hair. “I wouldn’t even have blamed you.”

Not a single one of the dwarrow having been forced to witness the events was able to stop tears of pity and compassion. There was nothing anyone could do to help ease a pain like this. 

Fili led his brother back towards the hearth, made Kili sit down with him and still held him, arms close around his younger brother, as Kili finally could ease his pain with the tears he had never allowed himself. 

When Kili had finally calmed again he still leaned against his brother, taking comfort from the familiar touch and warmth. “I don’t know why I could never talk about this.” His voice was still cracked and thick with his tears. “But I do feel better now... “  
“I’m glad you could finally get it out,” Fili replied in a low voice. “I think with holding this in for so long... you might have held on much longer than you would have otherwise.”  
Kili closed his eyes. “I think... I think you’re right, brother. I think I can finally make peace with her death.”

Together, arms around each other, they stared into the flames.

Behind them, the others left, treading lightly as not to disturb them. Katla softly closed the door behind them and then tip-toed towards the bedchamber, vanishing silently to leave the brothers to each other. 

Fili and Kili spent the night talking in low voices, sharing both happy and painful memories, and come morning, Kili was able to smile again.

* * *

The day of Thorin’s and Skadis’ wedding was scheduled to take place six months later, well after midsummer so everyone could enjoy another festivity between midsummer and the harvest festival. There were few people attending that did not live in the mountain, Bard and a retinue from Dale and a few dwarrow from the Iron Hills, family to Thorin and Daín. 

They exchanged their oaths not in the reclusive, sacred cave of Durin but in front of everyone attending in the Gallery of Kings, reminding everyone of Fili’s promise and his wish about the women of the mountain to be willing and able to show their worth with jewels and gold adorning their skin.  
The feast that followed was worthy of the occasion, and maybe even more, with Dís having made sure that this would be an event to be remembered. 

Katla and Fili had given up their seats in honour of the bridal couple and had withdrawn into a corner, remaining in the background and sharing fond memories of their own wedding. But at one point, Fili nudged her in the ribs and pointed inconspicuously towards his brother who was talking with a young dwarrow lady from the Iron Hills. It was obvious he was just holding polite conversation with her and another young lady who, by the looks of her, might be her younger sister.

A polite and discreet cough alerted Fili to the presence of Daín at his back. He turned around and the old warrior sat down beside him.

“I know that a lot of dwarves have approached you in the attempt of making a match,” he said and indicated with his chin towards the prince. “Well, I won’t even make a suggestion but have you seen how he looks at her?”  
“Who? Lady Agda?”  
“No,” Daín replied with a hoarse chuckle. “But to be honest, it would please her father to no end. She’s been courted by many a dwarf but refused to even consider each and every one of them. No, she’s a haughty woman and thinks herself too precious for anything but a prince.”  
“Then who are you talking about?” Fili asked with a frown.

Katla watched her brother-in-law intently, and realised that while he was talking with one, he was definitely looking at the other more. “Who is the other one?”  
“Ah.” Daín smiled satisfied. “That’s Lady Anania, the younger of the pair. See, she’s certainly not as beautiful as her older sister, nor has she her proud and regal bearing.”  
Fili tilted his head as he watched his brother.  
“I gather most people would find her unworthy of a prince,” Daín went on after a small, pregnant pause.  
“Well...” Fili cleared his throat and exchanged a quick glance with his wife. “I think we’d best let the prince himself decide that.”  
“That...” Daín said with another hoarse chuckle, “...seems like a sound plan to me.”

The two exchanged a look and let their eyes rest on the prince again. 

“Katla?”  
“Fili?”  
“Do you think you’d be able to make the sacrifice of engaging the Lady Agda in a... womanly conversation?”  
“In other words, distract her from your brother.”  
”Well...” Fili said in a drawl. “The way I see it he would surely enjoy a conversation with the Lady Anania far more than the one he is engaged in right now.”

Katla smiled at him, and then winked at Daín as she got up, gathering her robes around her in a most regal manner before she approached the pair of sisters and her brother-in-law, wrapped in the airs of someone who is not to be denied. She could see Anania’s disappointment and embarrassment as she approached her elder sister, but a look into those eyes, green eyes with the mysterious schiller and colour of the Moss Agate, she could well understand Kili’s fascination and attraction towards her. A flick of understanding dawned in the young dwarrowdam’s eyes as Katla swept Agda away with her, a last glance at Kili confirming that he had seen through her ruse as he gave her a smile that could be called nothing but grateful. 

When Fili and Katla retired late that night, and as they were walking through silent halls and hallways, they heard the low murmur of voices as they passed the great fountain in the centre of the royal halls.  
The next thing they heard was the laugh of a woman, soft and clear like a small, silver bell, but the answering chuckle was coming in a voice they both knew all too well.

And smiling to themselves, Fili and Katla headed for their quarters.


	11. Jewels worthy of a King

The departure of the royal delegation for Ered Gethrin was as sombre as the occasion. After so long a time with no contact between Gethrin and Erebor the envoys had been welcomed friendly and cautiously; but now, half a year after the first contact since Smaug, it was time to return the visit, renew oaths of fealty and re-forge old alliances.

This was no visit like the ones they occasionally paid to the Iron Hills so there was no family and no royal household in attendance. The king left only accompanied by his brother and uncle and a small retinue of warriors and advisors, leaving his queen as regent while he was away.

Having to keep up appearances, their farewell was courtly and measured; Queen and King holding hands and speaking formal words of farewell and the blessings for a safe return. Katla and Fili had made their farewells the night before in the privacy of their chambers.

The women of the royal family watched them ride away from the gates as the people of Erebor called farewells and well-wishes before they returned into the mountain. 

Back in their halls, Dís then served tea to her ladies in the Queen’s Court. 

“So what nonsense will we be up to while the menfolk are away?”  
“I thought I was supposed to run the kingdom in my King’s absence?” Katla’s smile was honest and relaxed. No one worried too much about the men being away. But then she noticed the young princess rolling a fold of her dress between her fingers, her eyes to the ground.

“Anania.” Katla left her seat to sit down beside her. “This is not war, not even a military excursion. There is nothing to worry about but a few orc packs, and they will be easily dealt with.”  
Anania shrugged. “I know. I just...”  
“Oh, we know,” Dís said with a good-natured, motherly smile. “You have been wed less than a year and will miss his warmth in your bed and at your side, but he will return soon enough.”

“Ah, to be so young and in love,” Elira mused with a shake of her head, fond memories softening her smile.  
“Hmph,” grumbled Míl beside her as her fingers swiftly worked the spinning wheel. “Hottest fires are soonest burned out and leave only cold ashes behind.”  
“Are you saying they should not have married?” Dís put her teakettle down.  
“Ach, nay, that wasn’t what I meant at all.” Míl rarely smiled, but she did so now. “Don’t listen to an old crone’s rambling. I am just jealous that Oín doesn’t look at me like that anymore.”

Anania looked up shyly, her eyes soft as her voice. “I am sure he loves you still...”  
Míl looked at her over the rim of her spectacles. “Oh, most assuredly. But at our age, love doesn’t mean hot kisses and starving looks anymore. It’s about not minding when the other farts or snores.”  
“Míl!” Elira snapped, equally scandalized and amused. 

After the chuckles died down, Anania returned to rolling the fold of her dress. “I... well... I know it’s a bit early, but I hope... I hope to be able to give my prince a son or daughter before the end of the year.”  
With a delighted laugh Katla pulled her close. “Really? How wonderful!” She took one of the princess’s hands. “When can you be sure?”  
Anania shrugged. “I guess I’ll know for sure within three weeks or four.”  
Dís left her own seat and sat on Anania’s other side, taking her other hand with a beaming smile, a smile that was shyly returned by her younger daughter-in-law.

“Well that is a really splendid gift for our prince when he comes home,” Elira said after she had finished counting the stitches of her knitting.  
“If it turns out to be true.”  
“Oh and if it doesn’t, then I’m sure you love each other enough to try again.” She winked, and Anania joined the laughter, looking relieved.

“So, do you have a gift as well for our King?” Dís smiled fondly at Katla.  
Katla laughed softly. “No, not that I know. But I am thinking about a gift for him, I just can’t make up my mind. There are a hundred things I could give him, but none of these have any meaning.”  
“You don’t have to give him anything at all,” Dís replied. “I am sure that for him, you are the greatest treasure he could want. His One, his queen. Having you back is everything he could wish for. There are no jewels more befitting for a King than the eyes of his queen shining in love, after all. Who was it again who said that?”  
Katla blushed and bit her lower lip. “Wasn’t that Naín the second?”  
“Probably.”

The talk moved towards other topics, but something about the jewels had set something off in Katla’s mind. That evening, she hesitantly knocked at the door of Skadi’s quarters. 

Her mind was made up after she had talked to her friend, and despite the remaining doubt and not a small amount of nervous worry, Skadi had convinced her that if there was one gift she could give him, it would be this. Together, the two ladies made their plan and Katla was looking forward to present Fili with jewels that were truly worthy of a King. Her King.

* * *

The whole mountain was up and about when the vanguard the King had sent ahead announced that the retinue would arrive within two days. Preparations had been made beforehand and so only the final touches were needed to get everything ready the celebration for their return. Two and a half months had passed, and everyone would be glad to be home again, and those left behind glad to have their loved ones back.

They arrived at the gates of Erebor shortly after noon, led by the King, and Katla welcomed him home, nerves buzzing with excitement as he dismounted and walked over to greet her.

“My Queen,” he said, and suddenly tilted his head with a puzzled frown. “Katla...?” 

Formalities were forgotten and he reached out to touch one of the small gold rings that adorned the outer ends of her eyebrows. “You...” Fili swallowed hard and shook his head. “I... I would never have thought it possible for you to me anymore beautiful, but today... today I have been proven wrong.”  
Katla smiled shyly. “I am happy that my new jewellery meet with your approval, My King.”  
“Approval?” He took both her hands and placed a gentle kiss onto her knuckles. “My love... I have never been more humbled by... by the blessing that was bestowed upon me from the fate that made you my Queen.” His kiss was almost chaste, but it carried a promise that made warmth spread through Katla’s body.

The prince, however, had less reservations and an even lesser sense of propriety; he had all but jumped out of the saddle and pulled his young wife into a fierce embrace. He, too, was in for a surprise as he leaned back, for it was only then that Kili noticed the small ring in her nose, just like the one Skadi had, only with a small bead of aquamarine instead. He touched it reverently, his eyes wide and his smile incredulous, as Anania smiled back at him, shyly and with reddening cheeks.

* * *

“We have yet to notice an effect of the Aquamarine on my brother,” Fili said with a fond smile, later that day we they were sitting at the banquet table. “The calming and relaxing properties of that stone have not done anything about his wild recklessness yet. You should have seen him that one single time we were attacked by orcs.”  
Katla laughed under her breath. “Maybe that will never happen. But he sure seems more at peace with himself since she is part of his life.”  
Fili’s smile softened even more. “He is. I have never seen him laugh and smile so much, not since we left Ered Luin and the remnants of our childhood behind.”  
Katla’s hand rested on his and their fingers entwined. 

“Just look how besotted he is with his wife’s new jewellery,” Katla said after a small pause. “He can’t keep his hands off it.”  
Fili chuckled and took a sip of ale. “Honestly, Katla... if I wasn’t forced to keep up appearances as the King I couldn’t keep my hands off yours either.”

Katla smiled, and then leaned a little closer. “Well, then we both have something to look forward to once we have escaped towards the privacy of our chambers. Because...” She leaned even closer, her breath brushing Fili’s ear. “Because there are a few more jewels to discover. Jewels worthy of a King, and for the King’s eyes, and hands, only.”  
She could see him swallow hard as he shifted in his chair. He cast a quick look at her from the corner of his eyes, and Katla could see the tips of his ears glow when she graced him with the sweetest smile she could muster.

Tiredness was mingling with excitement that evening when they shared mead in the private royal quarters, a more comfortable and familial setting for a proper welcome. No one said anything when Kili and his wife retired early.

Tiredness was still battling with excitement when Fili and Katla finally retired to their bedroom, but when Fili saw the smile Katla had form him as he closed the door all tiredness vanished.

He stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her hips. “So... what jewels do you have to show me?”  
“Show you?” She wound one of his moustache braids around her forefinger and tugged. Smiling, Fili followed the tug and their lips met. “I had no intention to show you,” Katla whispered against his lips. “You are meant to discover them.”

Fili stepped back with a soft chuckle under his breath and unbuckled his belt. After shedding his heavy outer layers and getting rid of his boots, he circled her slowly while Katla smiled coyly at him, hands clasped before her.  
And now he took the time to examine the gold rings that adorned her ears. Six rings on each, from earlobe upwards and decreasing in size, no stones or beads, just gold, the same as the two small rings in her eyebrows. He placed a soft kiss onto each of those before returning to her ears and traced his lips across them, breathing a kiss onto each golden ring. Katla shuddered with a soft gasp every time his lips touched them; they were new and thus, still sensitive.

Trailing soft kisses down her neck he began to unlace her dress and pushed the upper part down, his hands sliding up and down her arms as he nipped the delicate skin of her neck. He let go of her arms and began to remove the pins holding her hair one by one until it flowed freely down her shoulders. He sifted his hands through the cascade of chestnut silk for a while before he brushed it aside for another kiss against her throat, right there where it met the shoulder. Katla whispered his name on a sigh.

Hearing his name like this made every hair on his body stand on edge, he was hard and his trousers were starting to be too tight to be bearable any more. He freed himself of the heavy leather breeches and proceeded to unlace Katla’s dress all the way. It slid down and she stepped free of the heavy brocade to turn around, opening her arms to him. 

Fili stepped into her embrace, and their lips met in a hungry and passionate kiss. With their breathing becoming fast and heavy Fili stepped back again and unlaced the neckline of her shift. And after ridding himself of the last of his clothing he gently pushed her onto the bed. 

His heart missed a beat and began to race even more when he looked at her, lying on her back, hair spread out around her head, her pale skin like mother-or-pearl in the candle light. But something else caught the light as well. His eyes widening and his fingers trembling, he reached out and cupped one of her breasts without touching the nipple.

“It seems I have found more jewels indeed,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and heavy with desire. There, through her nipple was a thin bar of gold, and hanging from that was a small, delicate chain to which three more chains were fastened, each ending in a small bead of jade. He reached out with his other hand and found a matching piece of jewellery on her other breast. 

“My beautiful queen,” he whispered and leaned forward to kiss her again. Trailing kisses down her cheeks and neck, eliciting a sigh every time his lips grazed her skin, me moved downward and admired the beauty before him, the delicate weaving of cold encircling the rosy bud of her nipple. He brushed it with his fingers, shuddering at the sound she made, and then closed his lips around it. 

And for the first time now he understood what she meant when she was telling him she had no words for what his moustache braids did to her. The feeling on his lips, warm skin and cool metal, was almost overwhelming his senses. He felt her fingers thread into his hair when he caressed the soft skin with his tongue and brushed its sister-mound with his thumb. 

His cock was painfully hard when he sat up again, his hands on her skin slightly trembling as he was lost in awe and adoration and love. “Katla,” he whispered. “My queen... my love...”  
Her eyes were closed but a smile, sweet and soft, graced her lips upon hearing his words. 

Fili continued his adoration, his fingers caressing the sensitive skin on her belly, skimming the curve of her hips; but his movements, his whole world ground to a halt when his eyes fell onto the triangle of soft, auburn curls. There, where it narrowed between her thighs, a golden bead was shining like a beacon beckoning him close, and with his breathing hard and fast, he leaned forward, reached out with a trembling hand and touched it. His name on her lips was a broken whisper.

He could smell her womanhood now, clean and fresh from the bath she had taken earlier that day but sweet and musky now with her arousal. He hadn’t even been aware he had closed his eyes, but when he opened them, his heart skipped a beat again. There, right between her thighs where her folds met in a tiny groove, was yet another jewel; another bead of jade tucked away where even she could not see it. A jewel for his eyes alone. His whole body trembling, he bowed his head and kissed it, her curls a soft caress on his lips and cheeks. 

Shifting below him she moaned his name, her voice low and heavy with desire, and Fili closed his eyes again and dipped his tongue in for a taste, salty and sweet, the small pearl of flesh pulsing hot against this tongue. She opened her legs with another soft moan, and he cupped her sex with one hand and spread her slightly apart with the other; he needed no more than a few tender flicks with his tongue for her to climax, and he could feel the throbbing against the palm of his hand as she called his name, like an urgent prayer for mercy and for more. Another kiss onto that enticing bead of Jade that had brought him here had her breathing, just calming down, hitch again in another high-pitched moan. He smiled against her skin.

Sitting back he let his gaze sweep over her again, her body soft and pliant now, eyes closed and lips parted. His heart was beating so hard and fast against his ribs as if it wanted to break free in its aching longing to be closer to her.  
He adjusted himself between her legs and entered her, eyes closing in bliss as she enveloped him, and she reared up, dug her hands into his shoulders and pulled him down to hold him close to her as he moved, warm skin against skin, and the coolness of gold between their bodies slowly warming.

He came on a shout if her name, senses abandoning him for a moment, and when he collapsed, boneless and mindless and utterly sated, he closed his eyes to savour the gentle caresses of her hands on his body. 

“My queen,” he whispered when he had caught his breath back and settled down beside her. “My beautiful queen.” He cupped one of her breasts, his finger toying with the finely woven gold. “I am... humbled by your gift. No jewels have ever been more precious or more beautiful...”  
“Jade might not be the most noble of jewels,” Katla whispered with a smile. “But I never forgot what you told me about it, back after our first night together.”  
Fili buried his face into her hair. “Neither have I, my gemstone. But it matters not, even if it had been pebbles. Encased like this, Jade is more than worthy of a King.”

Their kiss was soft and yet passionate, sweet with both memories and promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Links to illustrate of the piercings I was going on about. Definitely NSFW, reader discretion is advised.
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> [Christina Piercing](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/36/23/8a/36238a0e0801fe0d027c63a40a11cb8f.jpg)
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> [Nipple Piercing](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/e7/74/ff/e774ffe8dbf9d350b9529a0f0a5be30c.jpg)


End file.
